Bartender's Family is off Limits
by SetsunaNoroi
Summary: It's not like he'd planned to touch her. He certainly hadn't figured she'd touch him back. Now Bickslow has to deal with the fact he did very adult things with a not quite adult Lisanna. Her siblings would kill him, his partners would kill him, let's just assume everyone would probably kill him. He's got to keep it a secret and not do it again. Sadly she and his libido don't agree.
1. Chapter 1

Won't waste too long with an introduction here. Just know I'm one of the fans of Fairy Tail who can't get enough even with canon pairings and had to jump on crack ships as well. It seems a lot of people like Bickslow with Lisanna and I just had to join the band wagon. It seems like over half of them are all written by the same writer too, and I love that person's work. Fallen Ark Angel is a great writer and after taking in a lot of those fics, I just had to give Fairy Tail a shot too.

Anyway, clearly I don't own this work. The characters belong to Hiro Mashima and I'm only writing this for fun. Also, as a warning, this is smut. Dirty, dirty smut. Enjoy if that's your thing, might want to hit the back button if it's not. Also, big thanks to my friend Thoorchan. She's the one who came up with the title of the fanfiction for me.

Chapter 1: In Which Bickslow Makes the Best and Worst Mistake of His Life

Bickslow had decided very quickly that being alone in the guild hall of Fairy Tail was probably the most boring thing he'd ever done. An annoying thing for a wizard who lived his life for thrills and power, probably a little too crazy to be allowed into society along with the power and lack of morals to really worry too much about the destruction he caused most of the time. He wasn't the kind of man who dealt with boredom well, but then again he supposed most of the members of Fairy Tail were like that, if not all of them. Heck, even newbie Lucy could be pretty insane when she started screaming and yelling even when she protested she was the only sane one in the whole damn guild.

Of course, this late at night he wasn't much in the mood to be at home, not that was much to go back to. Like the actual guild hall, the male dormitories were in shambles, and he had no real desire to go back there for the night. Hard to think only seven short years had done all of this. Everything was in shambles. Even if all of the best members of the guild had been away, it was no excuse for it.

Everything was just too quiet now, too dour. He missed the guild hall that was always alive with yelling and rowdiness. Even though he'd avoided the guild for the longest time before Laxus' attempted coup, he still knew it well enough to know how it was supposed to feel. This just wasn't right.

"Damn it," he cursed softly, even feeling too down himself to be very loud as he leaned over the counter and glared at the bottle of whiskey in front of him he was drinking. "Is there anything here that doesn't suck right now?"

"Lisanna! Lisanna!"

The seith wizard was confused for a second at the odd reply from his babies. What kind of answer was that? However, when he looked over his shoulder, he saw the door to the hall open and the youngest Strauss sibling standing there, the lights from outside spilling into the darkened hall.

"Bickslow?" she asked in confusion. "What are you doing here so late?"

"Oh, Lisanna," he said as he sat up a bit on his stool. "Mmmm, didn't want to go home. You?"

"Mira, Elf and I are cleaning up our house," she explained. "It's in a bad state of disrepair because of… well, you know. Things are falling apart, and it's pretty dusty too. It took nearly the whole day to make just our bedrooms livable again. We were going to take a break for dinner, but there's no food there so I came here to get some rations."

"Far way to trek for some grub, girlie," he laughed a bit, even though she hadn't said a single thing that was funny. For some reason he just needed to.

"Far! Far!" his babies chanted. "Silly girlie!"

She pouted a bit, closing the door behind her and walked up to the counter and around it. He could hear her rummaging around in the dark before a spark of fire was lit up from a match and she lit up a lantern on the wall.

"It felt strange," she excused, "being back in the market. So many people still think we're dead… it's… it's just..."

"Awkward?" he supplied, to which she nodded.

"This is the second time for me," she stated as she leaned a bit on the counter right in front of him. She was still in her shorts and t-shirt she'd been wearing on Tenrou Island, probably hadn't even gotten something to change into yet. "Losing so much time, everything changing so much. I've lost nine years in total now with people I care about. It's… just strange to look at everyone we left behind in Magnolia, not just our fellow guild mates, but everyone in town."

It was a different look for the girl, usually so cheerful and carefree. Of course, Bickslow knew it was stupid to think just because Lisanna was a girl who smiled so often and was usually so upbeat that she could never feel pain. Hell, one look at Mirajane would have told him that often a big smile hid the most broken heart. To have been gone like this a second time must have really gotten to her.

"You know what you need?" he asked suddenly as he grabbed his bottle of whiskey and glass. "You need a drink. Come on."

"Bottoms up! Bottoms up!" his babies encouraged as the bounced around in the air around the pair of wizards. "Drink!"

She laughed a bit and nodded her head, going to grab her own glass and poured them both some of the amber liquid.

"I should be getting some dinner, not boozing it up," she said as she lifted her own glass to sip it down. Bickslow himself slammed it and allowed her to pour him another.

"Aw, what could it hurt?" he asked as his tongue lolled out of his mouth, already feeling better for the company. If distracting her from her own pain made him feel better, damn straight would he indulge. "Once we've had a couple, I'll walk back with you and make sure you get home safe."

"Thanks, Bickslow. That's very kind of you."

He shrugged a bit. It's not like it would hurt him any, and he might get a home cooked meal from Mira out of it for his troubles.

"So, do you know what will happen with Laxus?" she asked him as she worked on her own drink. "When I heard about his exile… about why it happened, I was so shocked. I'd hoped when he came to the island, he'd be back for good but..."

"He's still nearby. Don't worry," Bickslow replied giddily. "I don't think he'll stay away for long though. Just you wait, he'll be back in Fairy Tail in no time."

"I hope so," she said with a nod. "It doesn't feel right without him around. I bet Mira is missing him real bad already."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"Oh! Nothing! Nothing!" she said quickly as she shook her hands. "I didn't say anything."

"Ooooh, I can tell it's something now," he stated with a grin. "You know something I don't you, eh, Lisanna?"

"Tell!" the dolls demanded. "We wanna know!"

"Ugh. I'm gonna get in trouble," she whined, taking a larger gulp from her glass this time and emptying it. Her cheeks were a bit pink, probably from the slip up, or was it the alcohol? Was she a lightweight and just one drink would effect her? He really wanted to know this secret, so he poured another and pushed it toward her. She was clearly still embarrassed but took it, holding it delicately in her two dainty hands.

"Mirajane liked Laxus… or at least she did," she admitted. "She's changed a lot since I was sucked into the Anima, so it's still kind of hard to read her like I used to be able to. She's not as obvious as Elfman is after all."

"Shit, really?!" he asked. "Her and the boss?!"

"It's not like anything is happening on that front!" Lisanna cried out. "She never even mentions him now! I guess she didn't like how he'd turned out, but he's so nice and everything now. He's as sweet as I remember. If Mira liked him before, she might still now. Though, I could be wrong. Maybe his actions during the festival changed all that."

"Eh, as much as I'd hate to admit it, babe, I think it was a lot more than the festival," he admitted begrudgingly. They'd all been kind of dicks back then, and he was man enough to admit it now. They'd all been to blame, even if Laxus had taken the entire fall himself. It also wasn't like things had been peachy keen before that either. "You really did miss a lot."

"I guess I did," she stated, her tone a little wistful. "It doesn't feel right, this hall. I miss the one I grew up in."

"It was always so full," he agreed.

"And joyful."

"And loud."

"It' was home."

Bickslow's and Lisanna's eye both widened as they looked at each other in surprise. They'd both said that last sentence at the exact same time, parroting the words without even meaning too. He noticed her cheeks get a dusty pink all over again as she looked away quickly. What was she so embarrassed about all of a sudden?

"Lisanna, if you need to-"

"Let me get more drinks," she interrupted suddenly as she went to the cabinet and started grabbing different bottles. "I learned a lot of them while in Edolas. Here, why don't you try some? It's not like we have a lot of missions on the board right now so I'll probably have to act as a bar maid for a while. Might as well keep in practice."

He sighed softly at her actions and suddenly placed his hand on the counter. Without any effort, he hopped over it and landed behind her. Her back was still to him as she rummaged through the bottles and he grabbed her shoulder to spin her around.

"Bickslow!" she cried out in shock, but her surprised expression fell away to confusion as he removed his faceplate and lowered his hood to properly look at her.

"You know it's okay," he said softly. "You don't have to force yourself to be happy for my sake, or anyone else. You can feel sad if you need to."

Bickslow didn't usually go out of his way to comfort other people. It wasn't in his nature, even after he'd gotten more comfortable and friendly in Fairy Tail with his fellow wizards. Still, he'd known Lisanna since they'd both been young. He could count the number of time she'd broken down on one hand and all of a sudden he had to wonder if there had been plenty of times she'd wanted to cry her eyes out but had held it in, hidden it away for the sake of others.

Ironically, encouraging her to cry was probably kind of dickish too, but when her eyes started to tear up he felt it would be better for her to just get it all out. He didn't hold her, just let his hands rest on her shoulders as she wept. With a small sigh, his eyes glowed green for a second and his babies laid out on the counter and went dormant. Lisanna would probably feel better for the privacy anyway.

"I miss it!" she sobbed. "I want Fairy Tail back! It kills me to see it like this! After my parents, being driven out of my hometown, Edolas, and now this! Why can't I have a home, Bickslow? Why?"

He cupped her cheek with one hand, wiping the tears away even as more kept coming. He really didn't know what to say. He himself had barely even had a home when he'd been younger, constantly moving from place to place. For a second memories of hay and grease paint invaded his mind, a large tent striped red and yellow and a train moving along the tracks that had sheltered him more often than any single roof had.

"Home isn't a place or a building, babe," he whispered softly. "It's the people you carry with you. It's the ones you won't let go of, no matter what. Even death can't part you, not really."

"Bickslow?" she asked in confusion but he just shook his head. Very few people knew the exact details of his life before the guild, and he was not keen on sharing, not at all.

"My point here is that you still have people around you that care about you," he stated. "The guild is our home, but it's not a building. It's not even this." He stuck out his tongue to show her his mark. "It's the people, okay? We're going to rebuild, and we'll get it back, all of it. As long as there is even a handful of people who have the dream of Fairy Tail alive, we'll be okay."

"Y-you promise?" she whispered.

"Yeah, babe. I promise," he assured her. "Just remember that. Fairy Tail is Master, your siblings, Natsu, even the cosplayer girl. It's you and me too."

He poked her in the chest, right over her heart.

"Fairy Tail is right in here. You can't ever lose that."

She smiled through her tears and quickly wiped at her face. She was still crying, but he could tell she'd be okay. Maybe she just needed to get it out. He was considering his job well done and was just about to get more to drink for himself before he felt arms wrap around him and her head rest on his chest.

"Thank you Bickslow. I really appreciate it," she breathed, looking up at him with eyes that seemed to shimmer even with her tears. It was funny. He'd been in the guild since he'd been a teenager and he'd practically watched her grow up. Still, to look at her now, petite against him but still well built, her heart shaped face lovely as she smiled, and her eyes as wide as ever but holding a wisdom along with innocence now… He couldn't believe it had taken him so long to notice after seeing her again but little Lisanna had really become a woman.

If the wizard had any brains at all, he would have pushed her away and excused himself. Maybe take her home and then just go back to the dormitories and sleep off the stupid thoughts suddenly invading his brain. He would certainly not wrap his arms around her waist and effectively trap her against his chest. Which only went to show he had to be some kind of moron because that is exactly what he did before he leaned in and kissed her.

Lisanna couldn't have expected the action, that was for sure, because she immediately went tense against him. He pulled away almost as fast as he'd dived in, knowing immediately he'd done something really fucking stupid. Shit, he'd fucked up. Any second she'd run off and tell her siblings and Mirajane and Elfman would race all the way over here to stomp him to death. Maybe he could track down Laxus and go on the lam with him. Yeah! They'd run off and create their own guild and it would be amazingly awesome and have booze and hookers he could drown in to forget he'd had such stupid thoughts in his head that had lead to him doing something so fucking…

Wait…

Why was she kissing him now?

He'd been so wrapped up in his own thoughts he hadn't even noticed her just look at him in surprise before she'd blushed a little bit and stood on her tip toes to plant a kiss on his lips. It was beyond shocking that she hadn't screamed her head off at his actions, and now here she was instigating it on her own.  
If he were a bit smarter, he'd probably put a stop to it and force himself to think it over, but fuck it. Sometimes ignorance was bliss, or something along those lines.

Their lips just moved gently, slowly enjoying one another. It was rather tame, just pressing their lips together and enjoying the warmth from the other person. Wondering just how far he could take it, he opened his mouth a bit to suck on her bottom lip as his hand began to wander down to her shorts-clad bottom. She shivered but didn't stop him, opening her mouth and granting him access. He couldn't help but feel a ripple of pride inside of his chest as he pushed his tongue into her mouth to taste her. She tasted a bit like the whiskey she'd been drinking, and oddly enough mint. It mingled with the scent of lavender soap that wafted off her skin and he could only guess she'd washed up a bit before coming here to run her errand for dinner.

Speaking of which, he'd better hurry. If she was gone too long, he was sure someone would come looking for her, and all of a sudden he didn't want to share little Lisanna with anyone. Then again, he realized as he smirked against her lips and gave her bottom an eager squeeze with both his hands, she wasn't so little anymore.

"B-Bickslow," she gasped out from his actions. He did stop, but only to smack her backside, and action that made her jump and even further push herself against him. He could feel her breasts rubbing against him even with the layers of clothing on. Heh. Naughty girl was certainly enjoying this, wasn't she?

"Relax, babe. I got you," he purred to her as he picked her up and spun them around to sit her down on the counter. He licked his lips at the sight of her shivering, bathed in the light of the single lantern.

"Bickslow, you don't understand. I've never done this before," she explained. "That was my first kiss."

"I had kind of figured," he assured her. After all, it wasn't like Natsu had any idea what to do with a girl. She would've had to pin him down and had her way with him herself to get any action from him, and they'd both only been fifteen when she'd almost died. Well, perhaps he was surprised she'd never kissed the dragon since she'd always been so bold but maybe she'd just been waiting for him to make the first move. Too bad for the dragon, Bickslow knew exactly what to do for a woman in need. "Don't worry. I'll make you feel great."

He placed his hands on the bar on either side of her and pressed his tongue against her throat, slowly licking at her. She kept shivering against him, but she certainly didn't ask for it to stop, even arching her throat for him in order to grant him more access to her silky skin. Bickslow himself wasn't sure how far he'd go with this. She was accepting a lot, but he kept wondering if she'd come back to her senses and push him away.

It didn't seem to come though as her arms wove around his back and her hands dug into his hair. She kept making the cutest noises as he abused her throat, steadily getting harsher with her. Nibbling her skin and sinking his teeth in, he evoked a gasp from her as she quickly shook her head.

"Wait! I don't want any marks! Someone will see!"

Hmm, good point. Again, he remembered her siblings and how pissed they'd be if they found out about this.

"Well, I'll just mark a place they can't see then," he whispered darkly as he pushed her shirt up. Underneath was still her purple, frilly bathing suit she'd been wearing on the island and he eagerly pushed that fabric up as well. He noticed her blush as he exposed her so easily but instead of reassuring her, he only gave her a dark grin with his tongue lolled out of his mouth. He had a feeling she already was aware just what the tongue in question would be doing next.

"I… oh, Bickslow," she whispered as his mouth latched onto one of her breasts, though giving it no kindness. He immediately bit her and sucked hard as she suddenly jumped a bit. He only grabbed her hips to keep her still, working her chest over with a happy growl. She didn't have the figure her older sister did, probably still growing into her body, but nature had still been pretty kind to her so far. Firm and bouncy, he already decided they were perfect for caressing with his tongue. She squirmed a little as the tip flicked at her nipple but when he pulled away, she only grabbed his head and arched her back. "No! Don't you dare stop!"

"Heh. I wasn't going to, but I can tell there's somewhere else that needs my attention," he chuckled. "Come on, babe. Let's have some real fun."

"Real fun?" she whispered. "There's more?"

"Oh yeah. A grand finale if you will," he assured her as he gently pulled her off the bar and turned her to lean over it. His hands moved over her arms and made her spread her palms over the bar before pulling her hips out. He groaned harshly as her bottom bumped right into his waist, so close to the tent in his pants. Still, that wasn't what he was after. As fun as it would have been to fuck her right up against the counter, even he knew that would be going too far. Besides, they really didn't have that much time. He prided himself on his stamina and he really fucking hated quickies. He'd try to find a way to have her the whole night if his pants ended up coming off.

Besides, if he told himself this was all for pleasuring her and not himself, he wouldn't feel like such a creep for basically molesting her when she'd just needed comfort from a friend.

He paused for a second at that thought. Holy shit, was that his conscious speaking? It's not like she was resisting him, and she made it clear she'd wanted it before he'd done any coercing. So what if she was in love with another guy, or five years younger than him, or didn't even know him that well… or was jail bait young.

"Bickslow, what are you doing?" she whispered as she looked over her shoulder at him. It snapped him out of his sudden attack of doubt, though it lingered unpleasantly in the pit of his stomach. "Are you going to-"

"No," he said suddenly with a shake of his head, though he sunk down to his knees. Fuck it. He was horny. She was horny. They were just two horny people doing naughty things together that they were both totally, completely, most assuredly cool with. What could possibly go wrong? "Not enough time. I won't leave you high and dry though."

Before she could ask what he meant by that, he'd yanked her shorts and bikini bottom down. It assured him a little her womanhood was glistening. Yeah, she did really want this. Still, he dove in quickly, his mouth closing over her lips. He heard her scream a little in shock, and while he probably should have let her get used to the sensations, he just shoved his tongue into her and quickly began to lap at her.

Fuck, she tasted good, and her moans and cries were really fucking loud. He was glad they were on the outskirts of town or he might have been worried about someone hearing. Everyone in the guild was really protective of the girl and he knew if he was caught it wouldn't just be her siblings that killed him over this. Hell, he was willing to bet even Laxus and Freed would kick his ass. Ever would just straight out cut his tongue out, along with other appendages he was rather attached to.

She didn't seem to sense any of his guilt or foreboding as she bucked her hips and panted out happily. She was really getting into it and the way she moved he'd have thought maybe the dragon had shown her some moves. Lisanna suddenly didn't seem like a dainty little virgin anymore, that was for god damn sure. Still, she was just following the pace set by his tongue as his hands gripped her hips so tightly her skin would no doubt be bruised in the morning. He kept hearing snatches of words, encouragement she could barely get out between all the moans. The words, "More!" "Yes!" and his own name all she could really seem to actually say.

Her walls were beginning to tighten as her body tensed, and he could tell she was getting dangerously close. He wondered for a second if this was her first orgasm too. Surely she'd touched herself, right? It didn't seem to matter though as she suddenly screamed out loud, a piercing shriek as her whole body went rigid and she suddenly jumped a bit, going up to her tip-toes as if trying to escape his tongue. He wouldn't have it though, fucking her with it until she finally settled down and moaned softly, her whole body trembling and her skin now slick with sweat.

"I… I… oh god," she panted softly. Poor thing probably couldn't even move. He'd better do the responsibly thing for once and help her out.

He quickly grabbed a rag and checked it to make sure it was clean before setting it against her pussy. She jumped a bit, but he set a hand on her back to soothe her, rubbing circles against her shoulder blades.

"Relax. You don't want to go back a mess, do you?" he asked.

"Oh. I didn't think of that," she admitted.

"Well, good thing I'm here," he said, grinning even though she couldn't see it.

"Mmm, yeah. Good thing."

Uh oh. She sounded kind of wistful there. Not that he wasn't glad she had enjoyed it. He was, but…

He wasn't even sure why it was a bad thing. It just was.

"Here," he said as he helped her get dressed, pulling her clothing back on fully for her and smoothing down her hair a bit. She still looked a bit sweaty and would need another bath no doubt, but with luck her siblings would only think it was the long walk that had gotten her in this shape and nothing more. "You should get your food before your brother and sister worry."

"Oh… oh yeah. Good idea," she said with a nod before she bit her bottom lip. "Though, don't you need-"

He immediately grabbed her wrist when she reached for his crotch and shook his head.

"They'll get worried. You don't want to scare them," he urged. "Just go. I'm fine."

"Well, alright," she said before she went to the cabinet to grab some things. He tried not to look at her, suddenly seeing her even doing a mundane thing seemed so erotic. She really needed to go before he got stupid again.

"Would you like to come to dinner?" she asked him once she was done, but he only shook his head again, a little more forcefully this time. He had a feeling if he did, Mira would just somehow be able to tell. No way would he risk it.

When she finally left he sunk down to the floor and sat down behind the counter. A pretty pathetic way to end something so fantastic, but suddenly he felt kind of low about it. She hadn't seemed to have minded his actions, but he wasn't sure they'd been right. Ugh, what the fuck had he been thinking, touching her like that?

Slowly his babies started to come back to life, rocking against the wooden counter of the bar before they floated around him. He shouldn't have put them to sleep. Their presence probably would have kept her from agreeing to something like that. She didn't strike him as an exhibitionist. Then again, she also hadn't struck him as someone who'd willingly let her first time be getting tongue fucked by a guy she didn't even have feelings for.

"You know what, babies?" he asked as they flew around him, gently floating in the air. "Your older brother is a really fucking stupid idiot."

"Idiot! Idiot!" they chimed out in agreement.

He groaned again and his head hit the back of the counter. He'd been asking for that.

End of Chapter 1

Originally this had been meant to be a one shot, but I ended up getting more ideas before I even finished it, so I'll keep going. These two could always use more love after all. No reason not to give it to them. I'd only meant to give some hints on my own headcanon of Bickslow's past before Fairy Tail, but I think I'll fully explain it later in another chapter, along with the rest of Thunder God Tribe and Laxus. Also, sorry if I messed up on Lisanna's experience. I'm fairly sure she and Natsu never kissed. I mean, I seem to recall a smooch on the cheek but nothing beyond that. If they have, please let me know and I'll fix it.

Reviews are kind. Please share your kindness with me.


	2. Chapter 2

I want to thank you guys so much for the nice comments and follows I've gotten so far. I'm really happy so many of you enjoyed the first chapter, and I got to this one as fast as I could. Hope that you like it.

As said before, I don't own Fairy Tail. This little fic is just for fun and nothing more.

Chapter 2: In Which Stupid Ideas Work Out Just Fine

It had seemed to Bickslow that avoiding the youngest Strauss sibling was a good plan for the foreseeable future. Luckily that was easy enough. Things were rather busy around the guild these days, everyone working hard to get the guild's debt taken care of. It seemed everyone had fallen behind in the years they'd all been gone, though he didn't much understand the reasoning.

Why the hell was everyone expected to pay rent for rooms they hadn't used for seven years? Was Fairy Tail that hard up for cash? He supposed so. It was actually easy to feel jealous of people like Lisanna who had a home that hadn't needed payments, though from the sounds of it she and her siblings were just as busy trying to clean and restore the place as well. That couldn't really be easy or cheap either.

Still, he found himself having to get a few jobs himself, Evergreen dragging Freed and him out several times to make cash for her own back rent. She was not a woman who went without the finer things in life and debt didn't suit her. At the very least it kept the wizard away from the guild for a while.

The fact of the matter was that it was just damn awkward what the two of them had done. The couple times he had been at Fairy Tail while she was tending the bar or picking out a job herself, he'd caught her eyes only for her to blush a bit and suddenly get really fidgety. Subtle she wasn't but then it's not like she'd ever had a one night stand before this. She probably didn't know exactly how to react to him now. Not that they'd ever been exactly close before, but as a fellow wizard of the guild they'd never been on bad terms before.

It was a few weeks later when he couldn't find himself avoiding her, back to turn in a completed job to Mira. He'd been getting worked like a dog by Evergreen and he was just happy to be back home and ready to get some rest. However, it wasn't the oldest Take Over sibling behind the bar but the youngest. He'd just considered folding up the finished posted job and returning later to handle it, but his teammates were already approaching the bar to turn in the paperwork. Damn it.

"Hey guys, back already?" Lisanna asked as she looked up at the three of them. She didn't seem to meet Bickslow's gaze, but the other two didn't seem to notice. "How was it?"

"Ugh, dreadful," Evergreen groaned as she sat down. "The job was collecting specimens for magical experiments in the middle of this awful swamp. I swear, if the silly little hedge mages can't even handle things like that, they don't deserve to practice magic."

"Now, now. At least it paid well," Freed said as he sat down as well. "Well, as well as can be expected considered there's not much to pick from. We're lucky we can get steady work at all."

It was true though. The second a new job came in, someone was usually fighting for it. A lot of people still had money issues to take care of, even with the intimidation of the Twilight Ogre guild, things weren't out of the red for everyone yet.

"You joining us, Bickslow?" Evergreen asked when she saw the Seith wizard hadn't moved.

"I'm exhausted," he excused with a grin that didn't quite ring true. "I'm going to get some rest."

"Bed time! Bed time!" his babies chimed as they bobbed around him. His teammates just shrugged.

"Well, I'm getting something to drink. I sure could use it," Evergreen said as she snapped her fan closed.

"Sure. I'll get you the usual," Lisanna said with a smile as she went to gather the ingredients for the fruity mixed drink they woman favored. Still, she moved slowly, glancing at Bickslow a few times. "You know… I get off in a couple hours. I-"

"I'm heading off," he said quickly, handing Freed the paper with their completed mission on it. "Be sure this get filed. Later."

He turned around quickly and made his way out of the guild hall, ignoring Freed calling after him and asking him what was the matter. Ugh, this was bad. He would have thought Lisanna would know better than to be so obvious. He could tell she was only just holding it in, and she seemed like she wanted to talk. Maybe it would be best to say something to her and not blow their secret.

He'd gone back to the male dormitories in order to wash up and change into cleaner clothes, tossing the other outfit into a hamper to just take care of later. After considering it for a bit, he eventually sighed and went back to the guild hall when Lisanna had mentioned being free. He should really be the responsible one and say something to her. She deserved that at the very least. No doubt his actions were really confusing her.

Luckily, it didn't seem there was anyone with her when she left. He'd almost expected Elfman to have been there to pick her up. Luckily the large man was nowhere to be seen, and Mira was the one taking the next shift of bar tending. He waited for her just a bit away from the entrance, leaning up against a tree.

"Hey," he said when she passed by, causing the girl to jump in surprise.

"Bickslow!" she cried out, patting over her heart. "Oh wow. You scared me."

"Sorry," he said.

"Sorry! Sorry!" his babies agreed.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him. "I thought you were gone for the rest of the day."

"You said you were getting off work in a couple hours, didn't you?" he reminded her. "I figured you needed to talk."

"Well… I had kind of been hoping… but then you didn't seem interested..." she replied. "And things have been so busy around here too, so I didn't want to pressure about it."

"But you have wanted to talk about it, haven't you?" he asked her.

She bit her bottom lip and nodded slowly. Of course she would have wanted to talk about it. He'd been an idiot to think he could just let it lay and never have it come up again.

"Alright, come on," he said as he turned away from her and walked off. He didn't check to see if she was following him, knowing she would be. Sure enough, she trotted off behind him until she had caught up with him, walking along with him by his side.

"Where are we going?" she asked him.

"I'd rather not have this conversation somewhere anyone could overhear," he informed her. "We need our privacy."

"Privacy! Privacy!"

Suddenly Lisanna giggled, covering her mouth with one hand as she gently laughed. He looked over at her in confusion.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just your babies," she replied. "They're kind of cute, the way they repeat so much of what you say. It's really like they are real kids sometimes."

He avoided her gaze, shrugging.

"They are."

"What? I thought that-"

"Anyway," he said loudly to cut her off, not wishing to get into it, "we need somewhere to talk where we won't be bothered or overheard. I don't know about you but I'd rather no one find out about this, especially your brother and sister. If they knew what happened, they'd flail me alive."

"Oh… yeah, good point," she said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I haven't told them of course. I mean, it's really none of their business what we do together."

That was good to hear at least. Good thing she understood the importance of keeping it a secret.

"Why don't you come over to my place?" she suggested. "It's in a lot better shape now and Mira will be gone for most of the night. Not to mention Big Brother is off on a job right now. He's not due back for days."

It wasn't a bad idea. Sounded better than trying to sneak her into his room, that was for sure.

"Okay," he agreed.

The walk was spent in silence though and it felt like it took way too long to get there than it probably should have. He watched her unlock the door and let him in following her inside and looking around. The place still looked a bit of of disrepair, but it was warm and clean inside. There were a few patches in the ceiling that looked like bad weather had caused them, but it was clear they'd been working hard on the place for to look so nice in such a short amount of time.

"So, Lissana. I just wanted to say that I'm-"

He was suddenly cut off by her jumping on him and kissing him eagerly on the mouth. He fell back against the door from her weight, grabbing her to have something steady to hang onto. Her kiss were clumsy but purposeful and he couldn't help but groan in desire. Her seeking tongue easily got him to open his mouth for her, allowing her to explore him as she liked. God, she kept moaning too. It sent sparks of pleasure right to his groin and filled his mind with memories of what else he'd done to make her get so loud.

It took him several minutes of making out with her that he remembered he was here to put closure on this whole mess, not get tempted into fooling around with her again. He jerked back suddenly, grabbing her by the shoulders to make her stop.

"Lissana, wait. This isn't what I came here for," he groaned as he pushed her away.

"Sure it is. We have the place to ourselves. No one will bother us," she assured him as she began to undo the clasp of his cloak. He grabbed her hands to stop her.

"No, really. I just came here to talk," he insisted. His babies however were cooing and cat calling at what had just happened and he glared at them. "Quiet."

She looked confused for a second, slowly pulling away from him.

"I don't understand," she said softly. "I thought you and I..."

"That's why we needed to talk," he admitted before pausing. "Wait. What? You wanted to do more with me?"

"Well of course I did! I thought that was the whole reason you'd come here," she said with a blush. "I couldn't get what we did out of my head. It was amazing."

"Oh."

He felt a little dumfounded by the news. For some reason that possibility had never even entered his mind. Bickslow had felt like he'd taken advantage of her, coerced her into it, and here she was saying she wanted more.

"I… I didn't realize," he said lamely. Okay, now what?

"Then why did you come here?" she asked before her face fell a little. "Oh. You wanted to call this off, is that it?"

"I'm not sure people really call off one night stands," he admitted. "You and I just, no wait. That came out wrong. What I mean is… well, you and I… we just… that is..."

"One night stand?" she asked softly, as if she could barely get the words out. "That's all it was?"

"Look, I was just hoping we could keep what happened between the two of us," he said. "I didn't mean to hurt you, honest. It just sort of happened. I wasn't thinking clearly and the situation just kind of got away from me. That's all, I swear."

Despite his words though, he could tell it wasn't helping. Lisanna looked absolutely shocked at his words and all of a sudden she started sniffling, tears forming in her eyes. Oh shit! Not good!

"Lisanna, wait. I'm sorry, really."

"No," she said, shaking her head and turning away from him. "It's fine. Like you said, it was just a stupid one night stand. It didn't mean anything."

"Lisanna," he whispered. "I-"

"Don't worry," she cut him off. "I won't tell anyone. I'm surprised you didn't go off bragging though. Must have been pretty funny that you tricked stupid, naive Lisanna into thinking you actually wanted her."

"Damn it! It's not like that!" he exclaimed.

"Not like that! Not like that!" his babies quickly agreed as if to assure her.

"Then what was it like?!" she demanded. "You just said yourself it was just a one night stand!"

"Yeah, look, I did something stupid, okay? I took advantage of you that night and I shouldn't have. You just looked so beautiful that night and I wanted you that I was stupid and started kissing you without thinking of the consequences and it all sort of got away from me. I never, ever intended to hurt you though."

He rubbed at the back of his neck as she stared at him, seeming shocked by his admission. He really had screwed up, hadn't he?

"Trust me, I never would have hurt you on purpose," he assured her. "I mean it. I'm not going to go and say it was just healthy fun because I know that would just upset you more and-"

"Could it have been then?" she asked him softly.

"Huh?"

"Could it have just been healthy fun?"

He wasn't sure where she was going with this, but at least she wasn't crying or yelling at him now.

"Well, I guess," he admitted. "It's not like you and I weren't compatible or anything. In fact, it was pretty good. I figured though, you wouldn't be interested in that kind of thing and-"

"Bickslow, I took you here for the express purpose of sleeping with you," she said with her arms crossed. "Why in the world do you think I'm not interested?"

He had to admit, she had him there. He really didn't know what to say to that.

"Look, if you just wanted that one night, than I guess that's all it's going to be," she stated. "I just thought that you wanted something more, even if it was just casual."

"You… you're fine with just a casual relationship?" he asked in shock. Okay, he really didn't know Lisanna very well at all. He'd never would have expected her to say something like that.

"Of course I am. It's not like we're in love or anything like that," she said with a shrug. "We hardly even know each other that well. I just had hoped you'd be interested as well."

The gears in Bickslow's head were quickly turning. A nubile, young and pretty girl was telling him she wanted casual sex with him. No attachments, no emotions, just the two of them having fun. He had to be dreaming.

"Anyway, since that's not what you want I won't bother you. I just- HEY! What are you doing?!"

He grinned down at her as he grabbed her wrists and shoved her against the wall, pinning them above her head. His babies flew off to settle on the small table by the door, going dormant. He'd want privacy for this, and he was going to rock her world. Her eyes were wide in shock and he reveled in the look she gave him, absolutely loving it.

"I had no idea you were so naughty, Lisanna," he purred.

"Bickslow..."

"Mmmm, you really are a bad girl," he said as he nuzzled her neck. Suddenly all the reasons why this had been a bad idea before were going up in smoke. Bickslow didn't have great self control after all, and if she wanted it then who was he to deny her?

"I'm not," she protested softly but the words didn't seem so sure when she barely got it out in a whisper. He only grinned. This would be fun.

"Oh, you're not?" he asked mockingly. "You sure? Because I could have sworn you were from the things you want from me."

She squirmed a little, suddenly looking so shy and he drank it up. She really didn't know what she was getting into, but she would soon enough.

"Tell me what you want me to do to you," he ordered in a hiss. "Say it."

"I want… I want you to...

"Yes? I'm waiting."

"I want you to fuck me," she whimpered, her whole face red. "Bickslow, please. Don't tease me."

"Oh don't worry, babe. This time I'm going to leave you and I both very, very satisfied," he assured her.

He let go of her and trailed his hands down her arms. Despite the touches being rather tame, she shivered underneath of him. Now that this was actually happening, she had to be getting nervous about all of this. It's not like he was surprised though. Eagerness or not, she was still a virgin.

"Come on," he said with a soft smile. "Let's get to bed. You'll be more comfortable there than right in front of the doorway."

"R-right," she said, her cheeks still a dusty pink as she took hold of his hand and led him through the front hallway and up the stairs to her bedroom. He actually grinned at the little plaque on her door, reading, "Lissy's Room" in bold paint, each letter a different color and a little red hand print that looked like it belonged to a ten year old down in the bottom corner. He was pretty sure there was a very low level of hell reserved for people like him, about to deflower a girl that he'd known when she'd been so young.

Her room was decorated a bit more maturely, baby blue wall paper with clouds painted on them and a queen sized bed covered with several mismatched throw pillows. Along with a wardrobe and a book shelf there wasn't too much furniture, though there were several issues of Sorcerer Weekly stacked in piles around the floor.

"Sorry it's a little messy," she excused. "I got all these issues while we were gone. You think someone out there would think if you've been missing for seven years, you should stop wracking up charges for them and stop sending stuff."

"At least you've got plenty of reading material to catch up on," he stated with a chuckle. "Though I can't imagine they have very interesting articles since none of us are in it."

"Mmm, yeah. I guess that's true," she sighed as he came up behind her and began to kiss up her neck, resting his arms loosely around her stomach. "Wait, maybe I should shower. I'm kind of messy from work after all."

"You're just fine, babe," he assured her softly as he began to undo the buttons of her shirt, pulling it off her shoulder enough to drag his tongue over it.

"Are you going to make a habit of licking me like that?" she breathed.

"Why? You like it?"

She didn't answer him, but he could tell from the way she was shivering that the answer was yes. But of course it was. He'd never slept with a woman before than hadn't liked his tongue. Hell, the fact she was so eager to jump into casual sex with him just after what he'd done with just his tongue was more than enough proof that she approved of his 'habit' very much so.

She turned in his grasp, kissing him softly on the lips before she pulled him to the bed. He sat with her, holding her close. This might have just been a fun and purely physical thing, but he felt he owed her to make this as nice for her as possible.

"You sure you're ready for this?" he asked her.

She reached for him, unbuckling the straps to his faceplate and pulling it off slowly.

"I am," she breathed.

End of Chapter 2

Shorter than last chapter, but I didn't want to try to fit a full sex scene in and have to rush it or make the chapter run too long. I figured I can save the really good stuff for next chapter. If you enjoyed please review and I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as I did this one.


	3. Chapter 3

I'm glad I was able get this out without too much of a delay. Just as a fast warning, this chapter contains sex. Nothing terribly kinky or bad, but it is explicit with the details. If that's not your thing, you can skim it but there is some development between the two so I wouldn't suggesting skipping it all. Also, Fairy Tail isn't mine. If it was, this would be canon.

Chapter 3: In Which Dirty Things are Surprisingly Profound

Lisanna set to removing Bickslow's clothes, and he had to admit, he found it kind of cute how hard she was concentrating on the task as hand. He watched with a bemused grin as her fingers worked over all the buckles and buttons on his outfit. She was actually fumbling with some of them. It was just too adorable.

"Why do you have so many clothes on?" she demanded when she finally got his cloak, waist wrap and shirt off. He was still in his pants and boots and she was starting to look visibly irritated, biting her bottom lip as she glared at him. He only chuckled and patted her on top of her head.

"Sorry. I'll wear less next time," he assured her. "Don't you like the anticipation though?"

"What do you mean?" she asked him.

"Just that there can be a lot of fun to taking it slow," he explained. "After all, we have all evening. Is there really a rush?"

"I guess not," she admitted as she ran her hands down his chest. She slowly explored his muscles, firm under his skin. "You… you look so good under your clothes though. There's no reason to bundle up like you do."

"I like how it looks," he stated with a grin before licking his lips and giving a shift of his hips. "Are you going to keep going?"

"Whatever happened to taking it slow?" she asked mockingly, but her hands were already on his belt. She looked down at him before hesitantly taking her hands back. "Oh, wait. I need something first."

"Huh? Are you okay?" he asked her. "If this is too much, we don't have to. Do you need a few minutes?"

"No, it's nothing like that," she assured him before threading her fingers through her short hair. "Just wait here. I'll be back shortly."

After giving him a quick peck, she stood and left the room.

"Ugh, what could be so important she needed to get it now?" he groaned softly. It wasn't like they were in the middle of it yet, but really? He had already been feeling aroused just by her undressing him and she had to run off?

"Sorry I took so long," she called when she went back into the room with a smile. "Hope you didn't wait too long. I needed these."

She showed him what had been so important, several condoms in her hand. Her cheeks were a little flush and she seemed more willing to stare at his chest than look him in the eye.

"Where were those?" he asked.

"In the bathroom."

"Next time keep them in here, okay?" Bickslow instructed as he curled his finger toward her. Obediently, she walked over to him. "Don't you think it will be suspicious if your siblings find you're keeping them in the bathroom?"

"I'm not keeping them anywhere," she said as she set them down nearby. Leaning over him, she unbuckled his pants before gently tugging them off, past his knees and down to his ankles before removing them completely with his boots and underwear. She blushed a little at the sight of his fully naked body and he grinned as he stretched out a bit to let her see everything. "It's just… they're my… my sister's… oh… um..."

"Lisanna, my eyes are up here, babe," he said teasingly. Her eyes snapped up to meet his with a blush but he only laughed. "I'm kidding. Relax a little. It's okay to stare."

"I've never seen a man naked before," she whispered. "It's a little intense."

"Well, the best way to get used to something is to experience it first hand," he said as he took her wrist and gave her a gentle tug to pull her into his lap. She didn't disappoint, immediately spreading her legs to straddle him. Her skirt was short on his lap and her shirt was small, only a snug tank top, so even though she was fully dressed while she was pressed up against him it was still an amazing feeling. Her arms wove around him in an embrace as she kissed him, her lips eager to be locked with his again by the way she was smiling as they did so.

Her tongue slid against his lips before she took the bottom in her teeth and gave a little tug. She was already learning what he liked and they' only kissed a few times. It was so tempting to take the reins and fully enjoy her, but he wanted to see what she would do if in charge.

Wet little sounds filled the room as her mouth moved over his, their tongues peeking out to meet one another. He could feel her shiver as he drug his tongue at the corner of her lips and along her jaw, whimpering a little. She recaptured his mouth eagerly after letting him lick at her cheek.

"You're an animal," she whimpered against his lips, hugging him closer as she pecked his chin. "So dirty. You're filthy."

"Well, you're awfully romantic, hugging me so close when all we're doing is kissing so far," he whispered in her ear before tickling her lobe with his tongue.

"Thinking of something in particular or you just like it that much?"

"No, I… I just like it," she confessed, "but you make me feel like I'm doing something really indecent."

"What about it is indecent?" he whispered, hands still on the bed and not touching her. For now, she was controlling everything. All he was doing was let her get it out of her system.

"The noises," Lisanna said. "Plus how… wet everything is."

"Noises? You mean like these noises?"

He gave her a sloppy kiss, his lips barely staying on hers now. Slurps and wet pops filled the quiet room, followed by soft moans and whimpers from her. She didn't pull away, letting him suck and nip and lick at her, and sucking on his tongue whenever it slipped inside of her mouth. She kept scooting a little closer every once and a while and now she was rested fully on his cock, legs spread wide as she sat on him. Even as he kissed her, his member was twitching against her panties. They felt a bit like satin, though it was a little hard to tell from how wet they already felt against his skin.

"I had no idea Mira's little sister was so excitable," he chuckled. "To think everyone at the guild thinks of you as some innocent little girl."

"Don't… don't talk about Mira," she said with a shake of her head. "If she knew about this..."

Still, he couldn't miss the sudden twitch of her flesh within her panties and he grinned darkly.

"You don't want to think about her knowing you do this?" he asked. "You're so good at it though. Your body is so beautiful and eager. I bet she'd be mad though, knowing her little sister is kissing a naked man while rubbing against him like he's your boyfriend."

"I mean it… stop," she hissed.

He only moved his hands to her skirt, yanking it up and giving her ass a sudden smack. She cried out loud in surprise, jumping a little against him.

"You're naughty, Lisanna," he noted. "You're enjoying something in your head, I can tell. You're thinking about, what? Being caught?"

"Yes," she confessed, her face red. "I am."

"Why?" he asked with an arched eyebrow. Seemed rather kinky for a first time.

"I don't want to be a little girl anymore. I don't want to be seen that way," she said as she gripped him tighter in her arms. "Everyone looks at Mira and says she's beautiful, and people all say Elf and Ever will get together any day now. I'm treated like a kid though, a little girl. It's so frustrating. I'm beautiful too… aren't I?"

The hesitation was impossible to miss and he only smiled before hugging her back.

"Way more beautiful than your sister," he assured her. "I wouldn't be doing this with you if you hadn't been able to make me see you as an adult. Don't worry, you don't need to worry about the rest of the guild. All you need is me, okay? After all, the longer they think you're just a kid, the easier this will be to keep secret."

"That's dirty," she whined out, but from the way she started to move against him, she liked the idea. Her breasts squished against his chest as she moved her body up and down his, her pussy rubbing against his dick. She was pressed so close he was trapped between her legs and his own stomach, the heat starting to get intense. "You're so filthy, Bickslow. Stop it."

"You really want me to stop?" he asked as he squeezed her ass. Without a second of hesitation he massaged her cheeks, helping her rub against him even faster. "You want me to stop saying dirty, filthy things?"

"Bickslow…" she whined out. "I mean it. S-s-stop."

"No you don't," he said with a grin. "You want me to treat you like an adult, and adults do naughty things. You want to hear about how hot my cock is getting because of you. Your pussy is dripping, I can tell. You're getting me soaked through your panties. And look at that, red satin. Mmmm, you call me filthy. Why are you wearing underwear like this if you don't want to be fucked?!"

"Ahhh!" she cried out loudly as he gave a buck of his hips at the last word. Her mouth hung open as he began to move his body with hers, bouncing on the bed as they ground together.

"Did you wear underwear like this since my tongue fucked your pussy, babe?" he asked. "You barely had anything to your name after Tenrou. Where'd you get this?"

"I bought it!" she cried out. "I needed them! I needed them so badly!"

"Why'd you need it? Say it. I want to hear what you were thinking when getting such sexy fucking things."

"I was waiting for you to come to me!" she whined out. She was drooling by this point, clinging to him as she bounced against him, the creaking of the bed filling their ears. "I wanted to wear something for you, to get you to touch me again!"

"I was away on so many jobs though," he said as he pretended to ponder. "How'd you know the day I'd say yes?"

"I didn't! I wore pairs like this every day!" she screamed out. "And you know that!"

"Oh yes, you're definitely an adult," he growled as he yanked her tank top up. The wizard wasn't shocked at all to see her bra matched as he tore the shirt off over her shoulders and began to suck at her breasts through her the fabric.

"I touched myself when I thought about you," she moaned out. "Oh god! I couldn't help it! You were gone so much! That was mean after making me come so hard last time!"

"Fuck, Lisanna. I really, really wish you'd said something sooner," he replied with a groan, completely honest. His whole body was starting to feel on fire and she wasn't even fully undressed yet. Just how would it feel to be inside of her? "We won't wait so long next time. I'll take care of you."

"Promise me!"

"I promise, I promise," he said before she grabbed his face and kissed him. His hands were everywhere at this point, touching anything he could. Her toned legs wrapped around him, her smooth back and round ass bouncing in his lap, and her glorious fucking breasts. "Like I could stop now!"

He suddenly threw her on the bed were she landed with a yelp before yanking her panties off her legs and tossing them aside. She was so soaked it had smeared all over her inner thighs and was running out onto the comforter of her bed.

"What are you doing?" she gasped. "I was so close."

"Don't worry. You won't do without. Trust me a little," he growled playfully as he snapped his teeth at her. "You said something that intrigued me though. You touched yourself?"

"You're not going to make me put on a show for you, are you?"

"That would be hot but no. I'll take care of your needs, but I want to hear what you thought about while I do it," he said as he ran a single finger over her wet folds, his middle one getting damp before pushing it to her entrance. "Tell me what you fantasized about and I'll fuck you like you want."

"I… I… I thought about ahhhh!" she cried as he pushed his finger in, curling it slowly inside of her. He felt immensely proud as she slumped over after her first orgasm washed over her and settled into her body. "More… oh more."

"Go on. Tell me more and you get more," he said as he moved his finger slowly inside of her. She was drenched but she was still a virgin. As tight as she was, she'd need plenty of prep time. Why not tease her while he was at it? "This isn't too much to handle, is it? Are you a little girl after all, Lisanna? Not adult enough to handle a little fantasy sharing?"

"You animal," she moaned, but only grabbed her knees to spread her legs wider. She really got off on protesting, didn't she? "It always starts the same, at the hall. You show up when no one else is around. At night, during the day, somehow we're always alone… just the two of us. You just… you stare at me and I get so weak in the knees, and you act like you don't know what you're doing to me. But you know… you know that you're getting me hot. You tease me and make me say it, make me beg for it. 'The first one was free, babe. You gotta pay for more now,' you'd say and make me earn it."

"Earn it? How?" he asked, intrigued.

"All sorts of ways," she gasped as he entered another finger. "Bickslow!"

"Don't think about my fingers," he urged. "Tell me what would happen next."

"The first time you made me clean," she whispered, her eyes shut tight. He gave a hard thrust of her fingers and they snapped open with a sharp gasp.

"Louder."

"You made me clean!" she cried out. "You played at accidentally pouring beer all over your crotch and made me lick it all up. Then I was covered in it and you pulled my top off to expose my sticky breasts while you sucked on them. I kept getting hotter and hotter but all you'd tell me was I had to earn the right to your cock. You teased me all night and didn't give me any relief until the end."

"Did I fuck you?" he hissed, getting into the story as well.

"Yes, yessssss," she hissed out. She was gripping her legs so hard now, her knuckles were turning white. "First you fucked me with your tongue until I couldn't move. Ah… your tongue… I love your tongue. So long… so wet… I couldn't get enough of it. You kept plunging it inside of me, I begged for more but you wouldn't do it. You won't do it until I asked properly, you said! The more I begged, the more you'd just tease me, wiggling it inside of me and bringing so close to orgasm and stopping, making me cool off before starting all over again. Oh… oh god… It made me so hot, thinking about your tongue inside of me again, making me crazy with the need to be fucked… so… god… so flexible and wet..."

"And how'd you ask?" he asked, forcing himself to keep his composure. She had quite the imagination, didn't she? It was making it hard not to defile her right there.

"I had to get on my hands and knees, completely naked and beg. You made me say it so dirty."

"Why don't you say it for real now then? I'm curious," he said as he continued to play with her pussy, rubbing his thumb harshly against her clit.

"I… but it was..."

"You were the one who thought this all up, not me. I'm just asking out of curiosity," he excused. "You're the one here who imagined me making you dirty. You just want to be dirty anyway."

"Ahhh! Please! Ah... I'll say it! I'll say it! Please, Bickslow! Give me your cock! Give me your long, wonderful cock! Shove it in my virgin pussy! Fuck me until I'm covered in juices! I needs it so bad! Please... please let your naughty girl have your wonderful fucking cock!" she cried out. "Then you fucked me until morning. Oh god… oh god, I feel so embarrassed. Don't laugh at me!"

Laughing was the furthest thing on Bickslow's mind. In fact, he was so surprised even his fingers had stopped moving. Holy shit, she really was dirty, wasn't she? Here he was imagining he'd have to coax such things out of her and here she was thinking of it on her own.

"You want to be a woman, babe?" he groaned as he pulled his hand away. "You want to stop having to make fantasies and get the real thing?"

"More than anything," Lisanna moaned. "Make me your woman, Bickslow."

"You can make me stop any time, you know. No point is too far," he assured her as he climbed over her. He freed her of her bra and removed it, swallowing as she squirmed around impatiently on the bed. "Even inside of you, if it hurts you say so. I'll stop."

"I'll remember that," she said with a whine as she bucked her hips out. "Please, just hurry."

He took a hold of himself and lined up with her. He gave her one last quick kiss, trying to distract her as he grabbed one of the condoms she'd gotten and slipped it on. She'd grabbed quite a few but suddenly he found himself wondering if it would be enough. The tip of his head slipped inside with relative ease and slowly began to slip inside. It really was helping she was so drenched. Despite being tight, this wasn't proving too hard.

"How are you doing?" he panted out, taking of her hands in his own and lacing their fingers together.

"It… it feels good. Why doesn't it hurt?" she asked in wonder.

"Gee, Mira has been slacking. She's supposed to teach you this stuff," he groaned out. "It's not supposed to hurt. Any asshole who says otherwise is full of it. The hymen stretches. It's not supposed to break or bleed. Just… just have to take your time… real… nnnngh, slow… fuck..."

He was getting deeper with every passing moment and the heat of her body was almost too much. He could tell she was getting off too, trembling even as she tried to stay still for him. There was no pain in her expression, only pleasure as he filled her. Her whole body was twitching and shaking, like a powered keg about to explode. It was the calm before the storm and she was only a couple minutes away from losing it again, judging from her reactions.

When he was finally all the way inside of her, it wasn't how he imagined at all. He just gave a shuddering gasp before they looked at each other, their eyes boring into one another. Her hand squeezed his tightly, but it didn't seem to bring him to reality. It just struck him that he was in Lisanna's bed, on top of her comforter and inside of her. She was covered in a thin layer of sweat, her body underneath of him and she just looked so beautiful.

"Lisanna..." he breathed as she looked up at him, seeming as caught up in the moment as he was. Suddenly all the dirty talk no longer mattered, or getting her to do naughty things. He just wanted to hold her close to him. He hadn't expected to feel so good while inside of her.

"I feel so good," she whispered softly, cupping his cheek with her free hand.

"Are you okay for me to move?" he asked her, to which she nodded silently. "Alright. Just stay relaxed."

While he hadn't planned to be too rough with her their first time, he hadn't seen himself being overly tender either. Yet that's how he was acting, slowly pulling out and filling her back up again. His hips continued to move and she hooked her knees on his hips as she moved with him. It was an easy pace and she picked up on it pretty quickly.

"I didn't expect something so gentle," she said in an awed voice. "At all."

"Me neither," he admitted. "It feels good though. Do you want me to stop? Do you need something rougher?"

"No, this is perfect for a first time," she said with a shake of his head. "It's just… wonderful. Thank you."

He could see she wasn't lying. This really was satisfaction for her. Instead of enduring the pleasure, she took it happily with a smile, a sight so dazzling he was amazed he didn't go blind from it. He really was in to deep now. How was be going to stop now? How was he ever going to stop? He couldn't say he could ever see himself willingly walking away from her or this. Perhaps he was just doomed to this sensation of being inside of her, this perfectly calm and tranquil moment.

He kissed her then, again and again because he couldn't get enough. She was so beautiful and warm, soft in all the right places in firm in all the others. She had a sharp mind and a kind soul, all of it a wonderful mix to make a sweet little person like her, and she was all his. For some stupid reason, she'd picked him. A man who was half a decade older than her, played with dolls hosting dead souls but planned to cherish her in gratitude for as long as they could keep this affair going for.

"Bickslow," she whimpered as she closed her eyes and arched her body into him. "Please, I'm close."

"I am too," he assured her. He sped up a little, but he didn't stop looking at her face. He didn't think he'd ever want to stop that.

There was no intense screaming or yelling when the came. They reached the peak together though, crying out in pleasure that mimicked one another without them even realizing it. He rested his forehead against her breasts as they rose and fell while she breathed, and he happily hissed the spot right over her heart, beating quickly in her chest.

It was probably the most earth shattering moment he'd ever experienced in his life, screaming or no. Fuck, he never would have expected it to feel so god damn right.

"I reaaaaaaally wish you'd said something sooner," he laughed as he rolled them over so he was laying on his back with her resting on top of him. Almost lazily, he slipped the condom off.

"Let me do that for you. You'll make a mess," she said as she sat up and tied it for him. "I wish I had a waste basket in here. I can't believe I didn't think about that."

"Throw it on the floor," he groaned. "Come on, there's post sex cuddling to enjoy."

"That's dirty," she complained. "You don't see me throwing things on the floor of your room."

"Yeah, well I have a waste basket," he teased before yanking her against him and tossing the garbage aside. "We're gonna have to clean the bed anyway. Just relax and enjoy the moment. I don't often have sex that profound, you know."

Despite his admission, which he felt was pretty deep and meaningful, she laughed as she snuggled into him.

"What's so funny?"

"Neither have I," she replied, "but I still have energy to stay clean. Maybe I'm too much woman for you."

He growled and kissed her harshly, ready to teach her a lesson. Oh, she'd get cheeky, would she?

It wasn't until three hours, ten more orgasms from her, three more from him, very messy sheets and countless condoms later did she finally plead for mercy and announced he was amazing at sex and could outlast her any day did he finally give in. Even then he drug her to the shower and gave her a very thorough washing that made her knees shake. Everything in her room gathered for cleaning, and him dressed, it was sadly time to end it. Mira would no doubt be back in an hour or so and he wanted to give Lisanna ample time to get things back together without distracting her.

"I'll see you again sometime soon, right?" she asked as he woke his babies up. He grinned and nodded before leaning in and smooching her forehead.

"Soon as I can," he promised. "Let's get out of here before I lose something that made me and Lisanna very happy today."

"Don't say dirty things like that with them awake," she protested but he only laughed and waved as he walked off, the tiki dolls floating around after him, laughing as well. No sense in being modest around them. They probably already knew what was up anyway, being so closely linked with him. Still, it was a nice secret to have.

He just hoped vainly he'd be able to keep it for a while.

End of Chapter 3

I really hope that everyone enjoyed this chapter. It as a lot of fun to write it out. Oddly enough some people seemed hopeful that Mira would interrupt. While she is indeed going to find out, it won't be immediately. Besides, I'm pretty sure Bickslow would have run for the hills. Got to give the relationship time to grow and flesh out a bit otherwise he'd probably ditch it to save his own skin. Don't worry though. Pain will eventually come for him.

Again, if you liked it, please review. I love hearing what my readers think.


	4. Chapter 4

Okay, so chapter in Lisanna's perspective this time. Bickslow has been a ton of fun but I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at her thoughts on everything that is going on. She's a really fun character because not only does she wear her heart on her sleeve, it's pretty obvious how she affects the characters around her too, so I thought something with her would be fun.

Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima. I'm just having fun with them. Dirty fun.

Chapter 4: In Which Acting Casual is Hard

Lisanna wasn't sure if it was her, but she couldn't help but feel her whole room smelled of sex, even as she finished cleaning it. She'd washed the sheets and blanket, hung them out to dry, wiped up the room and opened the window to let in some fresh air. Yet somehow, somehow she could still smell it. That musky scent that Bickslow left behind seemed to fill her nose and her mind, refusing to give her a moment of peace.

Laying back on her freshly made bed, she pressed her face into the pillow and deeply inhaled. Was it his natural scent or some kind of cologne? She'd been drowning in that smell earlier, it so strong she'd become intoxicated from it. She was grateful her sister didn't have the nose any of the dragon slayers did, or else she'd be in big trouble.

The Take Over wizard couldn't help but wonder if her sister would get mad about this. Heck, she'd probably be livid. As much as she'd changed into a sweet, kind woman over the two years since she'd been gone there was still a wild side to her full of anger and rage. It was better handled now, hidden away, but it was still there. Lisanna knew she had to keep this secret from her no matter what it took. Still, it had been worth it… so very, very worth it. She could still feel the ache inside of her, a deep throb inside of her that made her smile.

"Bickslow..." she whispered as she hugged one of her pillows to her chest. Never in a million years would she have guessed he'd be her first. She certainly hadn't expected him to kiss her that night and she'd reacted before she could properly think over the consequences. Things had just been changing too fast for her, hurting her too much, and he'd thrown her something to cling to in order to make it all go away even if only for a short time. She'd latched onto it without even thinking about it and the things he'd done to her that night had stayed with her.

He'd quickly filled her fantasies, made her think about nothing else. Everything seemed to pause when he popped into her mind, and it was especially hard in front of other people. Just the memory of his eyes looking at her in compassion before he kissed her, his strong arms around her, it still made her smile. Then of course their actual afternoon together. Who would have thought sex with him would have been so achingly wonderful? Every trace of his hand over her had made her want to shiver when he'd been connected to her and though she was much too exhausted to even entertain the idea of doing more today, she felt oddly lonely now that he was no longer with her.

She wondered if this would have happened if she had never been caught in the Anima. She'd been pretty focused on Natsu before then. She'd wanted to be his girlfriend, had wanted to become his wife someday. They'd played house and pretended to be in love, and it had felt like it was evolving into something more before that mission that had torn her away from everyone. If she'd been there the last couple years, would they have been more.

Sadly, she'd never know. Two years, two long years away from him had hurt. Lisanna had been sure she would never go home, had forced her to forget. The Edolas Natsu hadn't been the same and it had felt wrong to even attempt anything with him. Lying to them all had been bad enough without trying to take advantage and make him love her when pretending to be someone else. Besides, it was fairly obvious to her that Lucy wanted him, so she'd had no right to interfere. Now her Natsu was taken as well, whether he knew it or not, but this world's Lucy.

Lisanna knew better than to allow her heart to get involved, and after such a long time away, it hadn't hurt as much as she thought it would have. She'd moved on, and Natsu deserved someone who didn't remind him of two years of pain thinking she was dead. He didn't react any other way than happy to see her, but she couldn't help but wonder if he ever looked into her eyes and remembered the two years of hell she'd put him through on accident.

So she'd figured being single and staying that way was her course for a while. She hadn't planned on Bickslow happening, but it had and she honestly found herself happy for it. Hardly conventional for a first adult relationship, but she found she trusted him. Everyone else treated her like glass. It seemed he was the only one willing to do dirty things with her and treat her with respect about it.

All in all, she would have been crazy not to kiss him back that night.

"Lisanna! I'm home!"

The teen sat up the second she heard her sister and looked around her room one last time. Nothing looked out of place, nothing that screamed she'd been riding Bickslow just hours before. She quickly scrambled out of bed and left her room, closing the door firmly behind her and went downstairs.

"Ah, there you are," Mirajane said when her big sister saw her enter the kitchen. She was already working on dinner, slicing some vegetables for some salad.

"I'm glad to be back finally."

"Hard day at work?" Lisanna asked.

"Slow," she said with a shake of her head. "Things are getting back to normal slowly but… well, you've seen it."

"Yeah. I've seen it," she agreed softly.

"Kinana came by, by the way. She asked about you," Mira informed her. "I'd told her you'd already gone home though."

"Did she say what she needed?" the girl asked curiously.

"Oh, just wanted to say hi. Asked if you planned on taking some jobs or just work the bar with her and I."

"Oh, I don't know. I think it might be easier to work at the guild," she replied with a cross of her arms over her chest. She tried not to blush as she thought of the bar in question, leaning over it with Bickslow behind her, his tongue dragging over her wet skin. She couldn't suppress the shiver of delight at the memory, now in overdrive because of the day's previous activities.

"Are you cold, Lisanna? You're shivering," Mira pointed out, making her little sister flush and smack her face with the palms of her hands in order to get the thought out of her head.

"No! No, I'm fine," she said quickly. Oh, she really shouldn't space out like that right in front of Mira. She was trying not to be obvious over here. "Just tired from work, that's all."

"You got off a full shift ago. How can you be tired?" the older Take Over wizard asked. Lisanna just forced herself to shrug nonchalantly, or what she hoped looked nonchalant.

"I guess I've just been stressed lately," she said as she looked down at the floor. The sound of the faucet turning on distracted her again though, even as her sister was washing the lettuce off, all Lisanna could think of was the water spraying on her shaking, nude body as her lover rubbed soap suds all over her, working his fingers inside of her and getting her extra clean.

She gasped out loud and shook her head as Mira looked at her.

"Are you sure you're alright?" she asked. "Maybe you should sit down."

"Yeah, good idea," she said as she pulled a chair out from the table and did exactly that. The polished wood felt cool against her heated skin, and she had to wonder if her body was getting out from her control somehow. Was she really so obvious? The first night after Bickslow had left her feeling hungry for more but now that she'd actually slept with him it seemed her mind was going into overdrive. She really, really needed to calm down.

"Maybe you're coming down with something. You don't look so good," Mirajane noted. "It would explain why you're so tired too, after such a slow shift."

"I'm not sick," Lisanna said. "Just preoccupied."

"Oh? With what?"

There was no feasible lie that she could come up with though so she just shrugged her shoulders. What could she even say about it anyway?

The next morning, Lisanna slipped out of bed before it was even dawn. Dinner had been quiet and awkward, for which the girl blamed herself. Here she was trying to keep a secret and after just one explosive day with Bickslow had made her such a mess it was obvious something was up. She had to be more careful, for nothing else than Bickslow's sake. After practically demanding he start this relationship with her, she couldn't pay him back by blowing it in less than a day.

She needed to burn off some of her extra energy, that was all. She'd figured a run would be a good start. She didn't have to go to the guild today so she had no work to preoccupy herself with and thus this had seemed like a perfect solution. Slipping some sneakers on along with red shorts and a white t-shirt, she set off after leaving a note for her sister about where she was going. No need to make her worry for no reason after all.

There was no real direction she'd had in mind, not really. She'd just let her legs take her wherever they wanted in the cool morning air. Besides, while Bickslow had been very careful with her, she still had had sex several times yesterday. She was way too sore and stiff to really push herself too hard, so she kept it somewhere between a brisk walk and jog, feeling the exercise might burn a little but at least it would force her to think about something else than her lover fucking her in increasingly dirty ways.

The sun was only just starting to rise, and the moon was still high in the air as she made her way out around the edge of town. It really shouldn't have come as a surprise to her that after about half an hour of jogging she was at the neighbor building of Fairy Hills, the male dormitory. It was just as big as the female dorms, a few stories tall and shaped like a H, probably built by the same architect, but as far as she could see, there was no name on the building. Something looked like it had been there over the door long ago, but there were only faded marks now and she could not make them out.

Of course, now that she was here, she had no idea what it was she should do. After all, it's not like she could just waltz right in. Well… she probably could but she would never hear the end of it if she was caught. Again, she was supposed to be keeping this little tryst a secret and she was doing the one thing that would blow their cover in less than a day.

"I should just go, before something bad happens," she said softly to herself before something like laughing caught her ears. Unable to contain her hope at who it might be, she went around the side of the building. There was a small pond behind it that looked like it came in from the ocean, not very big but big enough for swimming if the mood struck her, and above it several tall poles with rope tied between different ones. Her eyes widened when she saw none other than Bickslow walking over one of the ropes, maybe twenty feet above the still water, and on his hands to boot. He was upside down, dressed only in a pair of was looked to be purple pants and not even any shoes on. Around him, his dolls were as active as ever, nudging him whenever he seemed to lose his balance, though it didn't happen often. It seems they were more spotters than anything as he would bend his arms to suddenly push off of one rope and then land on another one.

Slowly, very slowly, his body arched and he lowered on leg, but he seemed to twist backwards so his his foot actually landed in front of him on the rope instead of behind and his other foot followed, nearly doubling him in half before he stood up to straighten himself out. The girl could only stare at just how flexible and well coordinated he had to be in order to move so fluidly in such unnatural ways.

She'd wondered before how he could have such a magnificent body and now it seemed she had her answer. That looked exhausting, and true enough his skin was glimmering with sweat in the pale morning light. The guy practically had the body of a god and he'd clearly worked hard to earn it.

"Whoa."

"Lisanna! Lisanna!" the dolls cried when they seemed to sense her presence. He looked over as well, his hair hanging around his head in fluffy clumps, not yet gelled up for the day.

"Hey there, babe. What are you doing here so early in the morning?" he asked from the pole he was walking toward.

"Couldn't sleep, and I could ask you the same thing," she called to him. "You never struck me as they type that got up early to work out."

"Old habits. Babies, get me down," he said as they formed a little arc for him to step on and they lowered him down to the grassy shore where she was standing. "I've been doing this since I was a kid."

"It looks hard," she said. "How do you that without falling?"

"Well, I am an acrobatic little fucker," he laughed with a shake of his head. "If I'd known you were interested, I would have stayed up there and finished my act."

"Your act? Like a performance?"

"If that's what you wanna call it, sure. I was in the circus as a kid, before I joined Fairy Tail," he explained to her.

"The circus? Really?" she asked in genuine interest. "Why did you leave?"

"Is there some reason you came by?" he asked in response, running a hand through his ungelled hair. She felt a little confused by his sudden lack of answers. Even without a mask and able to see his face clearly, tattoo and all, she felt like he was hiding himself from her.

"I… I needed to get out of the house. I was tense last night and I think I nearly tipped Mira off that something happened," she replied. "I went for a run and I just sort of ended up here. I guess I just needed to talk to you."

He picked up his black shirt from off the ground and slipped it on over his head. At first she wondered if she'd made him mad before he suddenly wove a hand behind her neck and pulled her into a kiss.

"Got you that hot and bothered, do I, babe?" he asked with a wink, to which she only flushed in response. It didn't help that he was all sweaty so close to her and she could smell his musky scent all over again. "Don't worry. I spent all night thinking about it too. Luckily for me, I don't have anyone in my living space who wants to check me out every five minutes and make sure I'm still breathing. Thanks for not blabbing."

"Yeah, well it would have been really rude way to pay you back for what you'd done for me," she replied before looking up at him with something that wasn't just friendly interest. "She thought I was sick, I was getting so hot when I thought of you."

"Is that so?" he whispered before tracing a couple fingers down her throat, causing her to shiver.

"Naughty, naughty. You'll get caughty," his dolls taunted to which she bit the inside of her cheeks. She really didn't need to be scolded by them of all people, or whatever they were.

"It's not my fault. You're the one who did me for three hours straight," she said with a pout. "You should take responsibility for your actions."

"Man, you're pushy," he said before shrugging. "Tell you what, come to my room and wait for me. I'll get washed up and we can go somewhere to talk, okay? Have you had breakfast yet?"

"Nuh uh," she answered with a shake of his head.

"We'll go out and get some coffee and pastries," he said. "Come on."

"You sure it's wise for me to go inside though?" she asked.

"Sure. We'll just tell everyone you came by when you were running and bumped into me. It's true, isn't it?"

"I guess so."

It didn't seem anyone else was up yet, or at least anyone that would bother them. Freed was in the kitchen, pouring himself some coffee and already fully dressed, but they walked by without the man even seeming to notice her presence.

"Morning, Freed," Bickslow said with a yawn and they passed the doorway.

"Morning, Bickslow," he commented, not even looking up from the coffee he was sipping, flicking lazily through what looked to be the morning paper. Lisanna didn't say anything, not willing to bring attention to herself for no reason.

There was a certain amount of curiosity inside of her through when they reached his room. She was eager to get inside and look around, and she wasn't disappointed. The place was a mess but in an organized way, as odd as that seemed. There were half carved wood blocks everywhere and several small jars of paint littered around with brushes and wood carving tools. There were also shelves and shelves full of jars, oddly enough with things floating in them. At first she thought they were animals, yet they were… inanimate, all of them. One of them had a toy truck in it, one had a single playing card, and strangest of all, there was one that had a mirror in in. The liquid was a light red, almost pink, and it made the details on some of them hard to make out. On the walls where decorations, old posters paintings with wild designs of bright colors in thick paint. Many of them were announcements about a circus coming to different towns, but all of them under the same title. _Le Cirque des Rêves._

"The Circus of Dreams," he said behind her, making her jump a little. She'd almost forgotten he was here, which had just been damn foolish.

"Dreams?" she asked.

"My home," he explained. "My mom was a performer there. She was pretty good too."

"Good! Good!" the babies exclaimed happily. "Very good! Wonderful!"

"The posters are amazing," she said softly. They looked like they had been painted by a master, or at least she thought so. She didn't know much about this kind of thing, but she had a feeling Reedus would have loved to take a look at them.

"They were painted by someone in the circus," he explained. "They were made with magic. Everyone in the circus was a wizard, but just about everyone was pretty low level. All we did was perform so we weren't really considered a guild or anything but the magic really brought in a crowd."

"I've never seen this circus," she commented. "They sound amazing."

He didn't say anything and for a second even the babies seemed to droop a little.

"I won't be long," he said before patting her on the head and went to his dresser to grab a towel. "Just stay here. I'll let the babies stay with you and keep you company. They hate the hot soapy water anyway. Makes their bodies warp like you wouldn't believe."  
She felt confused when he left and closed the door behind him. Sitting down on the bed, she sighed softly. He'd gone and done it again, making his past sound interesting to her before just closing up on it again. Lisanna had never really been terribly curious about the man but things like that were really burning inside of her now.

Just as she'd sat down, it seemed the babies realized they'd been left behind. Part of her had expected a tantrum since they seemed so attached to Bickslow, but instead they just floated over to her and she was suddenly bumped on the head.

"H-hey! What was that for?" she asked before there was suddenly a weight on her head. One of the babies, she had no idea which one, was resting on her head and two more went over to her shoulders, one on each, and the remaining two settled on her lap. It was probably the weirdest thing she'd ever seen them do, but she didn't protest it. After all, they might get upset and she didn't want that. Still, she felt like a statue with a bunch of birds perched on her.

"Okay, enough. This isn't gonna work. Give me a second."

She waved them away and while they whined at her for it, she then laid out on his bed on her side, curling up a little to leave a little pocket of space around her stomach. She patted the space with her hand.

"You want to cuddle, come over here. One time offer," she said. They didn't wait, settling down with her on the bed. Without their weight on them, and they felt oddly heavy despite only being made of wood, she was able to cuddle them all without being uncomfortable, curling an arm around their bodies. "There. Much better."

"Much better. Better," they repeated and she told herself they were agreeing with her and not just repeating like usual.  
They kept giggling and chirping occasionally, but overall they were quiet and she allowed herself a chance to think.

There was very little she knew about Bickslow. She'd already been in Fairy Tail when he'd arrived, just having been learning magic for maybe a year, if that. She'd only been a little girl at the time but he'd already been a teenager. She couldn't remember the day when he'd shown up and she could only assume she'd been away when he'd arrived. Maybe it had been one of the many days she'd been off to play with Natsu. One day he'd just been there when the day before he hadn't been. Unlike the Bickslow she knew now, always laughing and smiling, he'd been pretty quiet and often had spent most of his time sitting alone at one of the guild tables. The only one he'd ever willingly interacted with was Laxus, only a year older and the two teenagers had quickly gotten into the habit of running off together for days at a time without a word, sometimes on jobs but most often not.

Even back then, they'd been really close, and all too soon Freed and Evergreen had joined Fairy Tail and they'd formed the Thunder Legion. Come to think of it, she had no idea where Freed and Evergreen had come from either. When she'd been growing up, they'd barely spent any time around the guild, so little time in fact it had been shocking to see them at the hall when she'd returned to her home world. She could barely remember how he'd been like back then, dressed in dark clothes, hoodie almost covering his face as he followed after Laxus, and his babies trailing after him.

"Strange to think about it," she mused. "I guess he had you guys even before Fairy Tail, huh?"

Lisanna couldn't help but wonder just where they'd come from too. She knew very little about Seith magic, despite the fact it dealt with souls like her own. She took souls into her own body in order to willingly gain power and strength while Bickslow pushed souls into other objects and made them fight for him. Besides the basics, she knew very little about all of it. Maybe she should make the attempt to learn. It could teach her a little bit more about him, after all.

For now though, she just had a relationship to think about. His actions had made her very happy, but also undeniably on edge. She really had to work on that before anything else.

Still, she realized as she hugged the little wooden babies close to her chest and smiled softly, it was pretty good despite her own anxiety. Her eyes were drooping already, relaxed on Bickslow's bed, surrounded by his things, his scent and his babies, she felt so safe and content. In the early hours of the morning, she could feel herself falling asleep even as the door opened and she saw Bickslow walking back inside, running a hand through his damp, blue hair and a towel wrapped around his waist.

A slight stab of arousal flickered to life in her stomach, but she was too tired to do anything with it, just letting herself fall asleep.

The last thing she heard was a soft sigh as the door closed.

"Shit, Lisanna. You're not gonna make this easy on me, are you?"

Personally, she didn't really know what he was talking about, but there was no way for her sleeping mind to form the thought long enough to say so.

End of Chapter 4

Oddly enough, I have little to say about this chapter other than it was fun to write. Though I should note the name of the circus, including the French translation comes from a novel called the Night Circus where two mages compete to one up each other via the magic in the tents. It's much, much more complicated than that and very deep but that's the basics. Personally I like the idea of a bunch of wizards getting together to make a circus, so I couldn't help but use the names of it for this fic.

Reviews are always appreciated.


	5. Chapter 5

I'd considered giving it a few days to write another chapter because I've been updating so much lately, but honestly I'm having so much fun with it I decided to just go with it. Besides, never know when I'll suddenly get busy and be unable to update in a while. Might as well get this written when I know I can actually get to it.

Chapter 5: In Which the Best Laid Plans Don't Even Last for Five Minutes

Lisanna rose with a sudden start as she realized she'd fallen asleep. It took her a second to properly orient herself and recognize Bickslow's room. The babies were no longer laying on the bed with her and she saw them floating around the room.

"Awake again?" Bickslow asked. She hadn't even seen him over by the bookshelf, but he had a cup of coffee in his hand and a book in the other. Smirking at her with his tongue hanging out, he snapped it closed and put it back before handing her the cup. "Here. I thought you could use a pick me up. Didn't seem like you had the energy to go out after all."

"How long was I out?" she asked as she took the coffee and gave it a sip. The flavor was good but a bit too strong for her. "You bring cream and sugar?"

"On the bedside table. I didn't know how you liked it," he replied. "Also, you were only out for about half an hour. Not long at all."

As she fixed up the drink with a couple spoonfuls of sugar and plenty of cream, she noticed he was still only in his towel. Had he gone to the kitchen like that to get her a drink? Though it shouldn't have been a big deal for someone to walk around the dorms like that, somehow the image made her mind go into overdrive as she blushed a bit.

"Sorry I came over here just to crash," she apologized, more for something to say than anything else. She didn't want to appear foolish.

"Nah, don't worry about it," he assured her. "You obviously needed it. Besides, it was pretty hot, the sight of you laid out on my bed with my babies."

"Hot! Hot!" they chirped, to which he only laughed.

"You have strange fetishes," she murmured, wondering just how the sight of her passed out on the bed with his little tiki dolls could be considered attractive. The bed suddenly shifted as he sat down next to her and leaned in to nuzzle her neck.

"Maybe I do," he growled before taking the coffee from her and setting it aside. "Though you coming here in that hot little number, how did you expect me to react?"

Her mind was a blank, unable to find an answer to his question, but he didn't seem interested in one. Instead he just kissed and licked at her throat as she sighed softly and let him do it. Why stop him? They both felt good from it, or at least she thought they both did. She herself loved the feeling of him attacking her neck in such a way. It made her toes curl and her whole body get tingly from the pleasure, spreading heat throughout her entire core. She actually whined a bit when he stopped, making him chuckle in the back of his throat.

"You came here to talk?" he reminded her teasingly.

"Yeah," she admitted slowly. "We don't have to though. Kissing is good."

"Well, if we ever get into a fight at least I know how to distract you," he said as he leaned back against the headboard. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"It's just my sister," she admitted. " I sort of might have tipped her off about something going on."

"So you said. What exactly happened? Should I be worried about her stomping over here and killing me?"

She just shook her head.

"I don't think so. If she were suspicious of me being with a man, she definitely would have asked. She's not the type to beat around the bush. No, I was just acting weird last night. She just thought I was sick, that's all. Still, I feel kind of bad for worrying her at all. That's why I left this morning, to try and clear my head and everything. I mean, I'm the one who insisted we do this and then I got all weird. Some grown up I am."

She felt like sulking a little bit, but he only wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.

"Hey, this is your first time doing anything like this, and it's your first time period. It's okay to get a little weirded out by it."

"More like turned on," she confessed.

"Even so," he said, though she could see very easily he was grinning. She'd probably given him quite the ego boost there. "She didn't figure it out. I wouldn't still have a dick if she had. Just let her assume you hadn't been feeling well and if you start to get urges again, then just excuse yourself and handle it."

The way he said it made it seem kind of simple but then she supposed there was no reason to make it complicated. Really, he was so mature about all of this. She really had lucked out he'd been her first.

"Still," he continued. "I think it might be best if we establish some rules. If we get sloppy about this, we really will get caught. No offense but that is the absolute last thing I want."

"None taken," Lisanna assured him. She didn't think anyone at the guild would be very understanding of her having a tryst, even if it wasn't with Bickslow. Besides, some ground work would make her feel better, less like she was trying to navigate a maze while blindfolded. If she knew what was okay and what wasn't with them, there was much less chance for any mistakes to get made.

"Okay, first thing. I said before that if you need me to stop for any reason, you just say so," he stated. "That still applies. In the middle of sex, visiting, goofing off, anything. If I do something to make you feel uncomfortable, you tell me immediately. No ifs, ands or buts. Got it?"

"Got it," she agreed. Pretty easy one. "What else?"

"We're not exclusive," he said, and she felt her heart sink. She tried not to show it on her face, but she hadn't been prepared for that bombshell. He wanted to sleep with other women while with her?

"Ah… I don't know," she admitted softly. "I don't think I like that one."

She was just being honest. That was okay in things like this, right? He'd just said to tell him if there was something she didn't like.

"I just don't want to worry about jealousy," he informed her. "After all, you should be free to go around and fuck any guy you want, right? I'm not always going to be here off from missions to take care of your needs, and from the sound of it, now that we've slept together your body is starting to realize you have those needs. If I'm gone for weeks at a time you shouldn't have to go through some dry spell before you can get off."

"I don't think I could handle going to another guy anyway," she said honestly. "I'm getting hot and bothered enough by just you. If I threw someone else into the mix, my brain would explode."

Not to mention she believed in one guy and one girl. If she could have handled anything else she would have suggested something to Natsu and Lucy by now. Right, like that would ever happen. Neither girl was experienced enough for something like that, and poor Natsu would probably just get confused by the idea.

Bickslow only shrugged though.

"Well, the idea is there. If you take advantage or not, just know I don't feel like I own you or whatever. Fuck whoever you like. I'm cool with it," he said. She felt herself frown a bit, not much liking the fact he was so okay with her fooling around but then maybe she'd sort of brought that on herself with the way she'd acted with him. Whatever. She wasn't going to do anything, so it didn't matter.

On the other hand, it was a two way street.

"Does that mean you'll be sleeping with other girls?" she asked him. "Like, from the guild?"

"Probably not," he said. "I'm not the type that gets that many offers from them."

"Really?" she asked him. "Why not? I mean, you're really good at it."

"Why thank you," he purred to her. "Generally though, I have a rule not to fool around with girls in the guild. It can get really messy, after all. Well, there was Cana once but that doesn't count. We didn't go all the way."

"You and Cana?" she asked with a squeak. There was no way she could compete with that. Cana was beautiful and had a body she could show off without a second of embarrassment. Her breasts were huge and she was so tall with curves in just the right places. Compared to her, Lisanna felt downright puny.

"There was alcohol involved," he said as if that explained everything. Well, with Cana it kind of did. "It was a few years ago. Gildharts had been here right before he left for his quest. She was depressed, I hit on her, we goofed off. That was all there was to it. I didn't even go all the way with her and she never told me why she'd been upset."

"You seem to do well with girls who are feeling down," she noted and his cheeks actually went a little pink.

"It's not like I did it on purpose," he admitted. "You looked down and I-"

"I'm kidding," she informed him as she elbowed him playfully. "Don't worry about it. I really did like what we did together. Though that still brings me to my original question. Will you be with a lot of other girls?"

"Not from the guild," he assured her. "Not anyone you would know or run into. Maybe on a job or something, but it's not like I have anyone lined up to screw, if that's what you're worried about."

Honestly, she didn't like the idea of him with anyone while she was with him, but it was just sex, and he had the same offer open to her. He wasn't being a pig about it, just honest. He could have lied to her and said there wouldn't be anyone else at all and she would have believed him while he went off and slept with any girl out of town he wanted to.

"I don't want to know about any of them," she said seriously. "I'd probably just get self-conscious about it. I'm not exactly a bombshell after all."

"Lisanna, don't talk like that. You're fucking sexy as hell," he informed her. "You've got legs that just won't stop and a really sexy face. Not to mention those lips of yours and the way you moan and whimper. It's like you were born for sex. You've got nothing to be self-conscious about."

She felt her cheeks heat up and looked away suddenly.

"I've got a small chest and BICKSLOW!"

He'd suddenly grabbed her, right through her shirt and began to massage her chest.

"Wh-what are you doing?" she gasped.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with this perky set," he growled playfully. She couldn't help but whimper a little as he ran his fingers right where her nipple was, getting it hard under her shirt. "Seriously, these breasts are great. They don't have to be fat and saggy to be fun."

"You knock that off," she said as she batted at his hand. He grinned but dropped it with a big grin. "Anyway, back to our arrangement."

"Right, right," he said before kissing her cheek. "Let's see, this stops any time you aren't comfortable with it anymore, we don't worry about jealousy… What else? Oh, we're going to need a good cover story for the two of us."

"Cover story?" she asked him. "What for?"

"Well, Fairy Tail is pretty tightly knit. I don't think we're going to be able to sneak around together without someone noticing. Even if we are super careful, there's only so many places we can meet up for privacy. Everyone in Magnolia knows who we are so we couldn't even get a hotel room together without someone saying something, and how often are we going to be able to go to your place? Elfman and Mirajane are going to be there more often than not and you'll get caught if you come here too often without a reason why you keep showing up. No one here is going to care if you are here for visits but just dropping by all the time will get noticed," he explained.

"Oh yeah. Good point," she admitted. She had not thought about any of that but it was a good point. It's not she and Bickslow had ever been close before this. If they'd been friends at least she could have used it as an excuse of them just hanging out but as it was, they would get attention no matter how careful they were. The only way to avoid that was to not meet up that often and she just didn't want that, especially now that she knew there was a chance he'd be sleeping with other girls while he was away. Perhaps it was selfish of her but she didn't want to give up any time she might be able to have with him while she could have him.

"You could always say you're teaching me magic," she suggested suddenly. She was already curious about his craft after all and it was a decent excuse. "Your magic and my own is kind of similar, working with souls and such. I could just tell Mirajane and Elfman that I want to get stronger and I'm working more with the fundamentals. It's kind of exhausting work too, Take Over magic, so it could explain if I suddenly look a little out of it to them."

"That could work," he admitted.

"We could do the occasional lesson too, just in case there's any follow up questions. Maybe somewhere public like in the guild hall so it all looks legitimate," she said. Now that she had thought of it, it actually felt like a really good idea to her. Not only was it the perfect cover, it would be a good chance to get to know him better. Maybe if she understood his magic better, it would lead to knowing him better as well.

"Alright. I don't think the odd lesson here or there would hurt anything," he said with a shrug. "Though I practice pretty advanced stuff. Don't get upset if you can't follow it."

She only rolled his eyes.

"I think I can handle it," she said before twisting around a bit so she was sitting on his lap, her legs across his as she grinned. "Maybe we can have a lesson right now."

"Somehow I don't think a lesson is what you're into," he said softly, his eyes getting dark with lust.

"Depends on what your teaching," she whispered against his lips. She'd been feeling in the mood for him since last night and there was no reason not to indulge that she could think of. Besides, if she didn't get some of her urges under control she was sure that she'd be a mess all over again when she went home. She'd just space out and get her big sister worried about her all over again, and no one would want that.

Really, if she thought about it like that, sleeping with Bickslow was the completely responsible thing to do.

"Lisanna," he sighed before they were kissing. Like before, it didn't take long to get her excited. He really was talented at making out and it got her hot to have his tongue past her lips and playing with her. Perhaps it was a bit dirty, but it was kind of part of the turn on for her. She knew first hand what he could do with such a thing and both her and her body really liked it.

His towel came undone without too much effort. Just a moment to reach down and a little twist of her fingers and he was exposed underneath of her. She couldn't do much with him though because all of a sudden she felt herself jump when his hand slipped inside of her shorts and underwear. A hiss escaped her as his fingers probed her and slipped inside without any resistance at all.

"Shit, you're that wet already?" he asked her as he face screwed up in pleasure. "Just how hot for me are you, babe?"

"Shut up," she whined out. "I'm sensitive, that's all."

"You're something alright," he groaned out happily. "Seriously, we only just started."

"Like you have any right to talk," she shot back as she grabbed his cock and began stroking it. She did it completely on instinct. Despite the fact he'd slept with her, she hadn't touched him as much as she probably should have the last time. Nerves probably getting to her but now she wasn't thinking about any of that. She was just annoyed he'd teased her and she wanted to get back at him. Her hand had just shot out on her own and now that she had him in her grip, it was slowly clicking in her mind just what was going on but it was too late to stop now.

Her pace had to be clumsy though, because all too soon he was moving his hips a little, taking her hand to help her set a pace. He didn't say anything and neither did she. It would just ruin the moment but their eyes met several times as she silently wondered if she was doing this right and he was just giving encouraging grunts as he moved his own fingers inside of her. Their breaths mixed as they both panted and groaned together, him capturing her lips several times when she got a bit too loud.

His flesh was hot and hard, seeming to pulse under her palms, both of them around his length by this point. Everything from his head that was starting to get a little sticky to the vein that was throbbing under her fingers was only getting her hotter by the second. She'd raised her hips a little and spread her legs to give him easier access, shifting her bottom a little to ride his fingers. Despite her nerves at first, it was starting to get easier to move along to the rhythm, as if there was some song playing that only they could hear in the background.

"Bickslow, I feel so hot," she whispered hoarsely as he just kept touching her. It was getting harder and harder to keep her breath even, not that he was having any mercy on her. She could feel the wet squishing as he played with her flesh and it made her blush deeply. God, it felt so good she almost forgot to be shy about it.

"Just enjoy it, babe," he ordered quietly. "Do you want me to stop?"

"No. God no, don't stop," she pleaded as she began to work him over even faster. "Please, I'm close. I'm so close."

"Well, then you're going to get just what you need," he promised her.

She almost screamed when his fingers only moved faster inside of her. Her clothes felt too tight on her body, too warm for the room that suddenly seemed so stuffy to her. She wanted to strip it all off, to be completely naked with Bickslow inside of his room, just riding him until she couldn't move. How did he do this so easily, making her think and want such lewd things without even trying?

His fingers were everywhere inside of her, touching and stretching her in ways that were absolutely sinful. She could feel every digit inside of her and it was driving her mad with lust. It couldn't stop, ever. She didn't want it to. Lisanna was sure she'd die without this pleasure and lust that was spiking inside of her and with every flex of his fingers she felt herself get more and more addicted to the sensations. This is what she needed. So what if people got suspicious? So what if her sister had thought something was wrong? Lisanna was an adult and she was allowed to do adult things with whoever she wanted, and right now she wanted Bickslow to fuck her until she couldn't think straight.

Her teeth sunk into her bottom lip so hard she was sure she'd break the skin and begin to bleed any second. Still, it was the only way to keep herself from shrieking. It felt like something inside of her stomach exploded when her orgasm hit her. The pleasure flooded her as she tensed up, her back locking in an arched position and her entire body feeling like it was on fire. A sob escaped her as she collapsed onto his chest, barely able to move.

"I'd never figured you for the selfish type," he said playfully in her ear. It took her a moment for her to realize what he was talking about. A glance down at his member showed her he wasn't anywhere close to his own orgasm, and despite his light tone, she could see on his face that was as eager to get attention as she'd been just a moment ago. She was so tired though. He'd really worn her out.

"Sorry. I… I didn't mean to forget about you," she said softly. She couldn't even remember when her hands had left his flesh, knowing she'd been touching him through most of it, but the last couple moments were really fuzzy in her head. "Did you want to finish up with me?"

"Can't," he replied. "No condoms. If I'd known you were coming, I'd have prepared. Sorry."

"It's not your fault," she assured him. She was going to have to get herself on a pill or potion. It would be a lot more convenient. That or she was going to have make sure she always had one on her, but she better never get caught with it. "Is there something else I can do for you? I don't think my hand job was really cutting it."

"You were fine," he stated before grinning and relaxing into the bed. "Though, if you really want to, there is something I've been thinking about lately."

"What's that?" she asked before he reached out for her. He rubbed his thumb against her mouth, still giving her a naughty looking grin.

"You've got such sexy looking lips," he whispered. "I'd love to see you working them for me."

It took her a second before she realized what he was talking about and she felt her temperature go up about a good ten degrees. She was sure he could see the red literally rise up from her neck to the very top of her head. Any hotter and she was sure steam would rise up off of her skin.

"I've never..." she said before she trailed off. She needed to stop listing everything she hadn't done before him. He knew. It was pretty obvious and he had to be getting a little tired of hearing it. He was being so mature about all of this and here she was getting worked up over every tiny little detail.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she crawled backwards for a bit so she was properly lined up with him. She did really enjoy his scent, so surely his taste would be the same, right? She really hoped so. He'd just cleaned up too so she knew he was clean. Nothing to getting embarrassed about.

Slowly, achingly slowly, she kissed his tip before slowly licked the top. His breathing immediately hitched as his member twitched underneath her mouth. So far so good. She took it as a good sign and kept going, working her tongue over him. His length was nothing to sneer at and she somehow knew it wouldn't be easy to get it all in too soon. Besides, he felt kind of dry so maybe getting him all nice and wet would make him feel good.

She looked up to ask him if she was doing okay and found he was just staring at her, lust all over his face. He was biting his bottom lip, much like she had been before, like he was just barely holding it it. The look shocked her. Did it really feel so good to him?

"Lisanna, please," he hissed out. "Keep going."

Wow. He really did like it. Feeling encouraged, it wasn't so scary anymore as she took the head of his cock into her mouth and began to gently suckle. A loud gasp let out in the room like steam from a tea kettle and she felt pride fill her as she began to bob up and down over his flesh. Even if she couldn't take it all in, he was really into it and that made her feel pride at what she was doing. What she couldn't take in past her lips, she handled with her hands, running her palms over his cock and pumping him into her mouth.

He was so hard under her touch, she was surprised that he could stand it. She actually felt a little bad she'd left him so high and dry before and redoubled her efforts to get him to come. He was panting and hissing from all of it, and she liked that she could get him so worked up over this. Her nerves were all but gone now as she worked her tongue over his member as he carded a hand through her hair.

"Fuck, you are sexy as hell," he hissed out as he pumped his member into her mouth. "God damn it!"

She only sucked harder, knowing he had to be close. It wasn't a disappointment though when he shouted a sudden warning he was going to come. He filled her mouth and she swallowed it down as she panted. His taste wasn't bad, thick and warm on her tongue and she smiled as she wiped at her mouth.

"You are really a giving girl," he groaned out.

"Oh? I thought I was selfish," she replied teasingly.

"Any girl who eats up cock that good on just one try can't possibly be selfish," he laughed as she blushed. What a dirty way to say it.

She crawled up on top of him, kissing him on the cheek before resting against his chest. Honestly, it just felt like a good moment and she didn't want it to end too soon. She'd have to go back to her house soon, but for now it was nice just to cuddle. Lisanna didn't think anything could ruin the moment for her.

At least until she heard a sudden high pitched giggle. Both she and Bickslow sat up suddenly and looked over at his five dolls watching them.

"Lisanna. Lisanna. Exhibitionist Lisanna," they cooed.

They'd both forgotten about the babies.

End of Chapter 5

I just had to end the chapter with a bit of a laugh. Figured these two would spend time talking about how to keep anyone from finding out only to mess around and forget entirely about putting his babies to sleep before they got started. Oh well, they knew already anyway and embarrassed Lisanna will always be fun.


	6. Chapter 6

Well, it's the start of my weekend. Having the next two nights off, I decided to get down to it and write up another chapter. I did have something I wanted to ask though. How does everyone feel about the level of smut in this story? Too much and not enough plot? Should there be more? Is it just right? I wanted to ask, and if there's any suggestions, feel free to let me know. I'm just curious how this is standing with everyone and I'd really like to know. If you could be so kind as to review and tell me your thoughts I would really, really appreciate it.

Chapter 6: In Which Interruptions can be Rage Inducing

"So Bickslow is going to be teaching you magic?" Mirajane asked as she wiped out a mug that had been freshly washed just a short time ago. There was an entire wet tray of them and the barmaid was getting them all dried off. Lunch rush would no doubt be starting soon and the woman was nothing if not good at preparing for a heavy work load.

"Yeah. I've been feeling a little underwhelming since Tenrou Island," Lisanna admitted. "I could have helped out a lot more back then, and I want to get stronger. I thought studying a similar branch of magic could help out, or at least pep me back up."

"Well, that's awfully kind of you, Bickslow. Thank you."

The Seith mage looked up from his drink and merely grinned. So far it seemed the story was going well. Lisanna had been chatting happily with her older sister for a while now before he'd slid up to the bar and she'd brought it up as if just remembering some small, little detail. Practically unimportant. Hardly even worth mentioning.

He had to admit, he felt relieved Mira was swallowing the lie so easily.

They'd decided to wait a little while in order to tell her about it and had let an entire day pass before bringing it up to her. No one had seen Lisanna at the male dormitories, but they'd decided that the story of her wandering by and talking to him about lessons was the perfect cover. Truths sprinkled in with lies made it all a lot easier to keep straight. Honestly, he would have been willing to even tell her the day they'd come up with the plan, but his babies were being very stubborn in misbehaving. Shushing them when they'd continued to tease Lisanna about being an exhibitionist, and how they even knew that word was beyond even Bickslow, had only encouraged them to tease her more. It had taken him threatening to lock them in a box for hours to finally get them to calm down and he had a feeling they knew it was a bluff. He'd never had it in his heart to curb their behavior, especially since he wasn't the pillar of maturity anyway.

Still, so far they were behaving today and hadn't said anything that would give away the big secret. Good thing they knew the difference between teasing and getting Bickslow in real trouble. He was grateful they knew boundaries, and admittedly while it had been embarrassing to be seen by them doing such things, watching Lisanna freak out about how sorry she was right after had been cute too. She really seemed to have thought she'd done something wrong. As if they could be mentally scarred or anything.

"So when will these magic lessons happen?" Mira asked as she went over to refill his mug of ale. He was several seats away from the Strauss sisters as if to appear close by to be part of the conversation if need be, but not so close it would have looked like he was seeking Lisanna out when he had sat down. What could he say? The details were in everything.

"Probably whenever we have time," he answered casually. "She's got her work and I've got my own missions too. Ever already has another lined up we'll be going to tomorrow or the day after."

"Why the wait?" Lisanna asked.

"Oh, she just wants to see a certain muscle bound man before we leave," he drawled out with a smirk. The Strauss sisters giggled loudly together, not sounding unlike a set of bells chiming and his babies giggled as well.

"Man! Man!" they exclaimed.

"Oh, don't laugh," Mira said, though she was still grinning wide. "I think it's sweet that they're getting along so well."

"She turned him into a statue when he opened the door for her," Lisanna pointed out. "She said he claimed he was treating her like she was weak or something."

"She's just being coy," Mira replied with a wave of her hand. "They're cute, I tell you."

"Well, I won't argue with that last part."

"You know, Lisanna, I think it's really nice that Elfman has someone he can be close with. It's really important to have someone you can rely on, that can make you feel special. I know it seems foolish when all you see if two people bickering but sometimes something really special can come from adversity," Mira said.

The two glanced at each other, wondering where she was going with this before she just smiled and went back to the mug she was drying.

"So, have you heard from Laxus?"

Bickslow had taken the wrong time to sip from his ale and he ended up coughing it up all over the bar. What the fuck? Did she think she was being subtle?

"Bickslow! Are you okay?" Lisanna cried out as she jumped up to hit him on the back, only causing him to cough and spit out more of his ale. The entire guild starting laughing before a green beam of energy shot out from Pappa and hit Gray right in the face, which of course caused Juvia to start yelling at him and swear eternal revenge, and of course Natsu had to get into it because fighting was like crack to the kid.

"Oh my," Mira said as she watched the mess before shrugging. "Well, I'll just ask him again later."

By the time it was all over, several holes were in the already beat up building and Macao was scolding all of the ones involved, which had pretty much been everyone. Bickslow didn't pay much attention to it, just catching words like debt, fees and other garbage. Honestly, he really missed when Fairy Tail was rich and powerful enough to not have to worry about such things. Besides, he was more concerned with thinking about Laxus.

Lisanna had told him about the woman's feelings for his leader but to actually hear a hint of it from Mira herself was still jarring. Maybe it was just because of his own relationship with Lisanna but the idea of those two suddenly seemed kind of weird. Then again, he couldn't imagine Laxus with anyone. Oh sure, he'd slept with plenty of girls, but since Mira had changed from vicious she-demon to a sweet and bubbly barmaid, she didn't strike him as the type to randomly knock boots with the Dragon Slayer and no way was Laxus a settling down type.

No way. That relationship would go nowhere fast.

Finally it seemed the chewing out was over with, which was a good thing because both he and Lisanna were supposed to be busy. They'd decided an actual lesson would be a good idea, in the guild hall were it was public and seen by everyone. That would avoid any suspicion when they would sneak off in the future and be allowed to fuck whenever they liked in peace.

The brawl has sort of delayed that, but it was fine. They could start now.

So he spread out a few books he'd brought for the occasion and Lisanna came right over once she'd seen what he was doing.

"Ready to get started?" she asked him happily and he grinned right back at her. Somehow this seemed oddly thrilling and naughty to him.

"Ready! Ready!" his babies cried out.

"Well, you heard them. Ready as we'll ever be," he said as he sat down. "Now, the first thing that's important to note is unlike most other magic, Seith magic doesn't rely on circles as much as-"

"Why's that? Sounds kind of lame to me?"

He glared over at Natsu, the stupid idiot having just plopped down next to Lisanna who looked just as surprised by his sudden presence as Bickslow was irritated.

"Natsu, hey there," she said, smiling a bit but casting a glance over at Bickslow. He only frowned back at her. It's not like the lesson was for anything other than show, but he hated to be interrupted.

Yes, interrupted. That, and only that, was the reason why he was annoyed Salamander of all people had to sit down at the table right next to Lisanna.

"So why don't you use circles?" Natsu asked.

"Um… Natsu, this lesson is kind of between Bickslow and I," Lisanna noted. "He agreed to teach me to help me with my magic."

"What's your magic have to do with one another?" Natsu asked. "I mean, you turn into animals and he has those freaky little dolls. Totally different. OW! OW! GET THEM OFF OF ME!"

"They don't like to be called names," Bickslow replied with a shrug as his babies continued to bounce off of the Dragon Slayer's skull. Served the idiot right for coming over here. He looked away so no one would notice the slight green glow behind his visor, a sign of his silent command to his babies to teach the brat a lesson for butting in.

"Call them off!" he demanded, waving his arms around like crazy to try to shoo them away.

"Bickslow!" Lisanna cried.

"Fine, fine. Babies, knock it off," he ordered. He couldn't help but feel pleased when every single one of them got a final hit in before flying away from Natsu, taunting him with vulgar names as they did so.

"You little pieces of wooden garbage! I'll make charcoal out of you!"

Lisanna just buried her face into her hands. Bickslow silently agreed with her. This was getting them no where fast.

"Can you tell your boyfriend to get lost?" he asked with mocking sweetness. He wasn't so much mad at her, but he was feeling irritated and there was a savage sort of happiness in him when both of them blushed.

"Y-yeah right! I aint her boyfriend!" Natsu exclaimed. "We're just friends!"

"Then why are you here?" he asked. "We're trying to have a lesson here and-"

"Well, I was interested! What, your magic too good to show off to more than one person at a time?"

"You aint smart enough to get it!"

"You calling me stupid?!"

"Guys!" Lisanna cried out suddenly, standing and slamming her hands on the table. "Come on, stop fighting! Bickslow, it's not a big deal if Natsu wants to sit in on the lesson. We're at the guild hall. If someone is interested, it's not like we can make them go away."

"Nyeh," Natsu taunted as he stuck his tongue out at Bickslow. The older mage envisioned cutting it out of his mouth.

"And Natsu," she said as she rounded on him next, "Bickslow has been very kind to say yes when I asked for magic lessons. I really want to do this, but I was the one who asked him, not you. If you want to sit in, I'm not going to object but if you're going to annoy him then he's gonna quit before we even get started and I really, really want to learn. So can you please just behave while we do this?"

Natsu grumbled a bit but nodded and Lisanna smiled before sitting back down next to him.

"Thank you. Tell you what, why don't we go fishing after this and catch some fish for Happy? Where is he anyway?" she asked.

"With Lucy," he said with a sulk. "There was a small job for running some errands in town and Lucy and Happy went out to do it. I was gonna go along, but it was all deliveries by cart and even looking at one of those things swaying around gets to me."

"Awww, you poor thing," she said as she patted him on the back. "Well, once their done all four of us can go fishing. Sound good to you?"

"Okay!" he exclaimed, seeming excited by the prospect. Bickslow's imagine in his head of cutting out his tongue suddenly included a much rustier knife, but he said nothing.

"Okay, shall we continue with our lesson?" Lisanna asked cheerfully. The oldest mage simply forced himself to grin, nod his head and get back to it.

The staged lesson didn't go very well though. Like Bickslow figured he would, Natsu ended up interrupting every five minutes with a question. After getting several insults from both the Seith magic user and his babies, things had fallen onto Lisanna to explain. She kept things simple for the Dragon Slayer, explaining mostly her own magic and how it related to Bickslow's.

"See, I take souls into my own body," she'd told him. "Mostly the souls of animals. Those are the weakest, but the safest to handle. There's a lot of diversity to it too, since I can swim and fly or anything else I might need to do because I have so many Take Over forms of different animals. Mira and Elf had stronger souls, but harder to control. It's all really complicated, but that's the basics of Take Over magic. You just have to find a balance you're comfortable with."

"And what about your magic?" Natsu asked Bickslow, but he'd long since gone to drinking from his ale and ignoring the whole damn thing. He didn't even bother to act like he'd heard him, and so Natsu went back to Lisanna. "You know anything about what he can do?"

"Oh… well, that was the point of the lesson, Natsu."

"Yeah, but he's not teaching anything to us."

At that point the man had pretty much just tuned out the rest and went back to his drink. A big part of him wanted to kick the crap out of the kid, but the fight from before was still pretty fresh and he didn't want to start something else again. Instead he just drank and watched his babies float around. He should have hit the Dragon Slayer harder with them, maybe knock him out.

Not that it would have done any good. Lisanna would have just freaked out and drug him off to be healed by Wendy or something. Not that he could blame her for preferring Natsu's presence, being in love with him and all.

Stupid Dragon Slayer.

A few hours went past before he finally gave up and packed up his books. This was going nowhere fast and he was starting to develop a headache anyway.

"We'll go ahead and continue another time," he told the girl as she looked up at him in confusion. "Go enjoy your fishing."

"But Bickslow," she protested before he cut her off.

"Don't worry about it, babe. We can always do this when I get back. There's no rush after all."

"No rush! No rush!"

She pouted but he forced himself to ignore it. It was getting late and he knew he wasn't getting any time with her anyway. Even if he had stuck around, Lucy would be back any time now with the job completed and some pay in hand, and they'd all run off to shop or hang out or something. The day in her company was as good as gone. Why bother to stick around any longer?

"Well, alright," she said, ignoring Natsu as he jumped up and ran to the bar to ask for some worms in order to get to fishing. "I'll see you later?"

He only shrugged.

"Probably when I get back from the job. Whenever that is," he said with easily an easily faked air of a nonchalant attitude. "I'll see you when I see you."

After all, he was the one who'd strictly forbidden jealousy. He couldn't blame her for wanting to spend time with her beloved. So what if they fished? So what if they fucked? It wasn't any of his business or concern where she got her pleasures when not with him and it seemed Natsu had all but claimed his territory on her for the day.

Whatever. He could do other things. It's not like putting on a show to the guild in order to bed her easier without getting caught was the only thing going on in his life right now. There was scouting out other jobs, digging himself out of debt, dealing with Evergreen's own debt and Freed's worry along with his own on just where Laxus could be hiding. He had way more important things to worry about Lisanna.

So he only gave her a casual wave as he finished packing up his books and made his way out of the guild hall. He didn't even wait for her to say good bye. Clearly she was already busy.

He wasn't even out of sight of the building when he heard running footsteps. Curious, he turned around only to have Lisanna tackle him and kiss him hungrily. Groaning immediately against her lips, he drug her into the cover of the trees in order to hide from any potential prying eyes.

"Keep watch," he snapped to his babies, who gleefully flew off to keep them from getting caught.

"Don't go without saying good bye," she panted against his lips before he devoured her mouth with his own. His hands were already going under her shirt to grope her breasts and she arched up into the touch, clearly happy for the attention.

"I thought you were busy," he hissed as he shoved himself against her and she hopped up to wrap her legs around him. He pinned her back to a tree and started grinding against her, making her hiss in approval at his use of force. "Don't you have fishing to go do?"

"Lucy isn't even back yet," she moaned out before pulling him by his collar into another kiss. His visor kept getting in the way, bouncing against her nose as they made out but both were too busy to move it out of the way. "We'll have to wait a little bit anyway."

"Won't the Salamander notice if you're gone?" he snarled as he grave a thrust of his hips against her core. She already felt warm under her tight pants and she gasped as she ground back against him.

"I can… afford a few minutes. Oh god, Bickslow. More," she pleaded with him.

"We don't have time," he protested, even as he imagined ripping her pants off, pinning her to the tree and fucking her from behind until she screamed so loud everyone in Fiore would hear her.

"I know," she whined before pouting. "Tonight. Can I meet you in the guild hall? I'll come here at midnight. No one will be around, and I can just tell Mira that I forgot something here, and when I get back I'll say I saw you here and that's why I'm late getting back."

"'Cause I forgot something too, and we decided to have an impromptu magic lesson to make up for the one Natsu interrupted," he agreed with a growl right into her ear before he bit the lobe and tugged playfully.

"It'll take hours," she agreed with a grin.

"It'll take all fucking night," he corrected, slamming his hips into her by this point.

She nearly screamed in her pleasure before he shoved his mouth against her own. Her nails were digging into his back harshly enough he could feel it even under his layers of clothing. God, he wanted to have her right there. He knew they'd be caught though. She was too loud to fuck just right outside of the hall and not have anyone hear. Besides, everyone must have seen her run after him. They'd come to check on her before too long.

It took all of his willpower to set her down and get his hands out of her shirt. She looked a little out of it, but smiled when he helped her fix her clothing and pat down her hair.

"Sorry Natsu interrupted the lesson," she said, her tone sincere.

"Meh. It happens. At the very least it's a good excuse to have the rest of them in private now," he said with a dark grin. "You should go, before Natsu thinks you disappeared and launches a rescue mission to come find you."

"Okay," she agreed before giving him one last peck and running off back to the guild. Damn, she looked really good from the back, just as good from the front. Her muscles just looked so fine when she was moving, so taunt and tight underneath of her smooth, milky looking skin. Those legs of hers would be the death of him.

He didn't bother to even go back home, instead hitting some restaurant to sip coffee until it got dark. He stuck his tongue out at the waitress that had his table every single time she insisted he should order something and left her a measly tip, just knowing it would piss her off. Sometimes ruining the day of someone else was the best way to pick up your own, and he was feeling pretty good by the time midnight swung around. He even picked up a bouquet of flowers for her, feeling he should give her a small thank you for making the effort to see him even as the day had sort of been shot to hell.

Then again, he was obviously treating her right if she was being so eager for his sexy body that she just couldn't help herself. Clearly sex with him was just as good a thank you as any. Screw it though. They smelled nice and he could afford some jewels to blow on her. It's not like it would hurt anything.

By the time morning rolled around, they were crushed in his hand and he wanted to rip every single stem apart. His babies had long since settled on the table he was sitting at and had gone dormant in order to sleep, and still no sign of Lisanna.

"Hey there, Bickslow. You're here early," Macao commented as he walked into the guild. The sun had only just come up and the wizard could feel the bags growing underneath of his eyes.

Where the fuck had Lisanna been?!

"Morning," he groaned, tossing the flowers onto the table. If he held them any longer he'd give into his urges and reduce them to mulch.

"Huh? What are the flowers for?" Romeo asked as he walked in behind his father. "Did you have a hot date?"

"Shut up, kid," he muttered. "They were for a lesson. Lisanna and I were going to continue after she was done fishing with Natsu, Lucy and Happy. I was going to show her the difference between getting souls into inanimate objects and freshly dead ones, like cut flowers. She never showed."

"Wow. That's a lot of dedication to teaching," Romeo said with a smile Bickslow wanted to wipe off his stupid face. Little brat. "She never showed?"

"Does it look like she showed?"

"You should have gone over to her house then, if you'd planned to continue the lesson," Macao said as he went over to the small stove for the guild. Bickslow saw him messing with the kettle and coffee grounds, obviously on the start of the day with some caffeine. "She was there after all."

"Right. Of course," he replied. "Should have figured."

"Well, Elfman did come back from his job last night. I guess she was so wrapped up in him being back, she forgot."

Bickslow would have preferred to think she hadn't been able to sneak out of the house and had spent all night missing him, longing for his body, but that didn't really help him feel any better either. And of course with Elfman back, Evergreen would be satisfied and want to get back to work. She'd probably insist on hopping a train right after breakfast. There was no excuse in his mind he could come up with that could get him out of it or get himself into Lisanna's bedroom long enough to have any fun.

He groaned and his forehead hit the table. Was this really worth the effort?

He remembered her clinging to him as he pushed her up against a tree, their mouths searing hot as they moved together and her groaned suggestion to meet him, just how needy she'd sounded when she'd suggested it.

Well… maybe he could swing by their place before allowing Ever and Freed to find him. Perhaps he'd get lucky and her siblings wouldn't be awake yet.

End of Chapter 6

I'm a bitch to Bickslow, and it's oddly satisfying.


	7. Chapter 7

Don't really have much to say on this chapter. I just hope that everyone likes it. Bickslow was a lot of fun in this chapter, but then he's always fun. I decided I needed something a little deeper for this chapter and it really fit.  
Also, I am really sorry if this a little OOC for him. I have no idea what he was really like as a kid. The manga and the anime never got into his past so I just sort of made it up, and I have this idea he had some serious problems as a kid. Still, I hope I didn't go too far with it in certain parts. You'll probably see what I mean when you read it.

Chapter 7: In Which Dolls Were Children

The train's steam was already blowing hard, ready to go and set off on its journey. People were clambering on the train to get good seats but Bickslow just stood there in the crowd, Lisanna in front of him. Her fingers were twirling into her short hair and she seemed nervous. It was an oddly endearing look for her and if there weren't so many people moving around them he would have leaned in and kissed her for daring to be so cute right in front of him.

"I'm sorry I didn't show up last night," she said. "Do you really have to go now?"

"Evergreen is pretty adamant about it," he informed her with a shrug. "Little I can do about it. After all, I kind of need the money too."

"I guess that's true," she admitted with a sigh. "I'll be so happy when things get back to normal. Everyone is working themselves to death it feels like. Elfman is already talking about taking another job, though he wants me to go with him too."

"Is the money good?" he asked to which she nodded. "Take it then. This one will probably take us a while too anyway, so it's good timing."

"Yeah," she agreed softly before looking away. "I… I really am sorry about last night. I wanted to come but-"

"Hey, don't worry about it. It's not a big deal," he lied. He'd told her he'd just gone home after a couple hours, unwilling to admit to being so pathetic to wait for her the whole night. While he'd gone over to her house to tell her he'd be leaving and she'd treated him to a hot cup of tea in the kitchen, he'd really wanted more. Not that he'd said anything. He didn't want her to feel like she started owing him anything. "I know your family is a big deal to you, and he'd been gone for a while. It makes sense that you spent your time with him when he got back. If you'd tried to leave he probably only would have walked you to the guild anyway and it would have been a total waste of time. Don't worry about it."

"Thanks, Bickslow. You're a really sweet guy."

Sweet? Him? He didn't really seem to think so.

"Where'd you get that idea?"

"You just understand family," she said with a smile and a shrug before curling her finger at his babies. Poppo flew over and landed on her outstretched hands to which she cuddled it to her chest, making it coo and rub against her happily. "After all, you take good care of your own."

He could only stare at her. She saw the dolls as his family? Of course they were, but so few of the guild could see it like he could. To almost everyone else they were just objects or annoyances, nothing special. Just toys to play with or weapons in combat. Even Freed, Ever and Laxus really only tolerated the dolls, understood they were important to Bickslow and knew why, but did nothing to interact with them themselves. He'd never minded or cared, but here Lisanna was talking about them as if they were family. She was hugging it like she saw it as a real child that needed actual love and affection.

He grabbed her and kissed her suddenly she cried out against his mouth, but he didn't care. He just needed it. Didn't she see just how perfect she was?

"B-Bickslow?" she breathed against his lips but he only shook his head.

"I have to go," he said, holding her shoulders tight in his hands as his forehead rested against hers. "A couple weeks, tops."

"Oh… okay?" she asked, clearly confused. He just gave her a little smirk and grabbed his things before going to get on the train. Freed and Evergreen already had a compartment and he sat with them. For a second he wondered if they'd seen his impulsive kiss, but they said nothing to him and he just let it go. He was spontaneous but no harm done. Not a big deal.

By the time he'd looked out the window into the thick crowd, he couldn't see her any more and he just let his eyes slide closed as he rested against his seat. His babies were already settling around him and he just took the time to relax.

"So, when are we due to arrive?" Freed asked.

"The town is a bit far away. Apparently some sea port having a problem with monsters, giant squids or something. It'll take most of the day to get there and then a carriage will take us the rest of the way. They're so far into the beach, the tracks are only for trains that carry cargo in and out. No passengers," Ever explained. "We'll probably end up smelling like fish by the end of it. Ugh."

"It can't be helped. We certainly can't afford to miss out on work right now," Freed replied.

"Ugh, I know. I wish Laxus hadn't been banished. He never would have let Fairy Tail get in this state," she grumbled.

"While I'd like to agree with you, Laxus was with us on Tenrou one way or the other. There's nothing that could have been changed," Freed sighed.

"Guys," Bickslow muttered as he refused to look over at them. "Will you shut up?"

"My, you're in a foul mood," Ever sneered. "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm tired. Didn't sleep well," he muttered. The train was already pulling off and the clattering of tracks was lulling him into a fit of sleep but he'd never be able to rest properly with them talking like this. Usually he didn't feel so snappish, and he would have been just as happy to chat along with them and talk up their boss, but he just wasn't in the mood right now. He was already missing Lisanna and regretting the fact they hadn't had any privacy the last day or so. It wasn't just the sex either. It was irritating him he hadn't really had her to himself at all.

Not that it should have mattered.

Not that he should have cared.

Yet… there wasn't any denying that she was special. She was kind and sweet, a little vulnerable yet strong of spirit. She was someone he could want to protect but respect at the same time. There was something about her, something that drew him in, but it also drew everyone else in too. Lisanna was not the kind of person you could keep to yourself because everyone wanted her.

Bickslow was inherently selfish. It's why he'd insisted they didn't make it where it was just the two of them. Already he knew he wanted all of her attention and while he could insist it was okay that she had other things in her life, it was hard not to want to keep her all to himself. He knew it wasn't right though. He had his own things to handle and he wouldn't be able to drop them all for her. It wasn't okay to expect to do so for him.

Even though he really wanted to.

Then again he was a man that could take souls from people and shove them into objects to make them serve him. With just a glance of his eyes he could make anyone do whatever he wanted. There were very few people who could resist his magic. It had gotten him in a lot of trouble as a kid, his mother trying so hard to get him to behave. He hadn't had great control back then and while she'd been understanding he'd often gone a little out of control with his eyes, both on accident and when he'd just wanted something. It had both spoiled him and made him spiteful of the way others treated him because of his abilities.

Funny, he'd been thinking a lot about her lately. With his eyes closed, he could see her so clearly in his mind. Long black hair in a thick braid that reached all the way to her ankles and always dressed in pretty blouses and kahki pants when not in her performance outfits. She'd been way too kind to him considering how often he'd misbehaved, not that he'd really appreciated it back then. Like all kids, he'd been a little too bratty, feeling sorry for his circumstances even when she had been there to offer her support and love.

The sound of the wheels going over the tracts were rhythmic and drifting off in the distance, the sound getting quieter even as he rode the train and it should have stayed as loud to his ears. Almost hypnotizing, it felt soothing to him as he felt him slowly falling asleep. Even with his two teammates continuing to talk, it didn't bother him. His eyes suddenly felt so heavy, gravity forcing them closed.

"Bickslow. Bickslow, get up."

The young boy's eyes slowly opened, looking up at the woman standing over him. She had a huge smile and he groaned before rolling over. Nothing good came to him when she looked like that.

"Go away," he groaned. "I don't wanna do anything."

He felt himself grabbed up by the scruff of his neck and yanked out of bed.

"Now, now. Come on," she urged. "You don't have time to sleep in. We've got work to do."

"What?" he asked as he rubbed at his eyes. He felt so freaking sleepy, and set up had already been done the night before. Just what the heck did he have to do right now?

"There's someone who came to visit the circus. It's a big honor to have him," she explained as she bustled around the room. "Mr. Gehno said to give him the VIP treatment."

"What's this have to do with me?" he grumbled as he looked around the train car that was effectively home. Like always it was cramped with old things, his hoarder of a mother never could throw anything away. Explained why she still had him around.

"Well, he's the guild master from Fairy Tail and one of the Ten Wizard Saints. Isn't that amazing? Master Makarov is a very important man, and we were told he was intrigued by our circus. He came here with his grandson, a boy about a year older than you. I thought you'd want to meet him."

Bickslow only grumbled again. Right, like he wanted to meet some brat.

"Go wake up your brothers, will you?" she asked as she began to pull clothing out from a chest, all the outfits for her children for the day. "We want to be presentable for them when they arrive."

"I don't see why I have to entertain some grandson of some stupid old man," he retorted before she gave him a sad look. Her smile had faded as if it had melted away. The guilt that stabbed into his heart from the look was impossible to ignore as she knelt down in front of him.

"Bickslow," she said softly. "You know you don't have to do anything you don't want to. I don't want to force you to interact with others, but you're going to need to someday. You can't hide away in this circus forever."

"Why not?" he asked. "I don't need anyone. I've got you, Pappa, Peppe and all the rest."

She sighed softly before leaning in and kissing his forehead.

"Someday you'll understand," she said to him. "I know it doesn't seem like it, but this world is big. Too big for a boy like you to hide away here forever. It can always help to have friends out there. Besides, I heard this Laxus is a real sweet heart. Maybe he can help you stop being so glum and lazy."

She laughed suddenly and he only scowled.

"Sounds like the kid is a pansy," he muttered.

"Well, pansy or not, you're gonna make friends with him," she said as she straightened back up and went to sorting the outfits. "Now go get your brothers. The day is wasting away."

Rolling his eyes, he shoved his hands in his pockets before he went over to the other end of the end of the car. In two cribs secured tightly to the side of the wall there was five children, little young ones. Bickslow grinned widely as he looked over the edge of one of the cribs. They were quickly out growing them, two of them at the age of three and the rest at two. Pretty soon they'd probably have to share Bickslow's bed since they were shooting up like weeds.

His mom had been pretty lucky, having a set of twins and then triplets. At least that's what he thought. Some people in the circus said she was too young to have so many children, especially with her husband passing away so shortly after the birth. Bickslow didn't agree. Having a big family was great and a lot of fun. It was one of the few things he actually liked doing as a chore, helping his mom raising them. After all, she'd always told him as the oldest he was the man of the family.

"Big boys help out the youngest siblings," she'd often told him. "You don't mind helping out, do you? They're going to look up to you someday. So you have to help them and keep them safe. No matter what. After all, they're only babies."

Bickslow slowly shook them awake one after another, scooping up the two oldest and nuzzling their cheeks as they yawned and smiled at seeing their older brother.

"Hey, Mom. You think this Laxus kid will want to play with them?" he asked as he carried them over to the bed so she could get them dressed.

"Well, I don't know but maybe you should ask," she stated. "Who knows? Maybe he likes little kids as much as you do. Don't force it on him though. You don't want to look pushy."

"I could always make him if-"

"Bickslow!" she admonished immediately. "Don't you ever say that! You know you're not supposed to use your eyes!"

"But-"

"No buts! Now get Peppe, Poppo and Puppu," she said sternly.

"You know, those names totally suck. Your imagination is awful," he muttered if only to have something to shoot back at her as he went to collect the other three. He hated when she got on him for such things. She always forgave him of accidents, every single time but the moment he suggested using his powers on purpose she'd immediately get on him about it. He helped her dress them before quickly making an excuse to leave. Her expression was still stern whenever she looked at him and he knew she would not forgive him until he apologized for suggesting using his possession on someone willingly, but he wasn't much in the mood to say he was sorry. It wasn't like it would have hurt him or something.

Hopping down from the car's door, he went to find something else to occupy his time with. Maybe he could avoid this kid if he was careful. It's not like mom could force him to play with him.

Well, she could but he knew that she wouldn't. As much as she hated him using his eyes, she hated it even more using them herself. He couldn't understand why. Unlike him, her control seemed perfect. She never screwed up or unleashed them on accident.

She was a million times better with magic than he'd ever be.

He was just slipping through the several tents that were set up when it happened. He wasn't looking where he was going, staring down at the ground, already half way painted for the shows that would be happening soon when he felt someone slam right into him. He cried out in surprise when he was knocked down, landing on his back.

"Hey!" he yelled out at the one who knocked him down. Some blond boy was standing over him, a big goofy grin on his face with a shock of blond hair and dressed in a red shirt with a lightening bolt on it. Bickslow didn't recognize him, but that wasn't odd. As part of a traveling group of performers, he often saw kids his age that he didn't know. Usually they were running around during the actual open hours though. Ugh. This had to be that Laxus kid. What rotten luck.

"Oh hey. Sorry about that," the other boy said as he held out his hand to Bickslow. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," he said as he stood up, refusing the hand and instead dusting off his pants. He already wanted to use his magic to make him go away. Something about the blond just irked him. Why was he smiling so much? "You're Laxus, right?"

"Huh? Yeah. How'd you know?" he asked.

"My mom told me your grandpa was coming," he explained with a shrug. "Said he was some kind of big shot."

"Oh yeah! My grandpa is is the master of the Fairy Tail!" he exclaimed a grin. "It's a really cool guild with a ton of awesome wizards in it."

"Hn," he muttered before he started to walk away.

"Hey, where are you going?" Laxus as he ran after him. "Don't you wanna play? You live here, right? I bet it's really cool, being able to travel around with the circus all the time."

"It's okay," Bickslow replied shortly.

"You allowed to go into all the tents?"

"Well duh."

"Can I see some of them?"

"No way."

"I heard everyone here knows magic. Is that true?"

Bickslow turned around and was about to belt the kid in the mouth just to get him to shut up and leave him alone, but the sight of Laxus made him stop short. He was grinning as wide as ever, and between his two hands electricity was dancing between his fingers. The pops and crackles of the miniature lightning show made the other child pause. That… actually looked kind of cool.

"Wow. You… you can control it so easily," he muttered softly.

"Yeah, I've been learning lately. My dad is a super strong wizard, just like Grandpa. He's helping me with it. Pretty neat trick, huh?" Laxus asked. "Someday I'm gonna be just as strong as them and join the guild too."

Bickslow stared a bit at the sight for a few more minutes until Laxus stopped the trick. He couldn't help the swell of disappointment inside of him. That had looked so neat, and he'd done it so easily too. Bickslow could never have control like that, but then again his mom wasn't part of a guild and didn't have any plans to let him join one. Practice sessions were only between the two of them and she was always so busy that getting lessons from her wasn't easy.

"You're so lucky, having a family that can teach you that sort of stuff," he blurted out before he could help it.

"Huh? What do you mean?" he asked. "Don't you have magic too?"

"Well… yeah, but..."

"Can you show me?"

The child fidgeted for a second. He wanted to say yes, to show Laxus his magic too. That lightning trick was neat, and Bickslow had neat magic too. His mom would probably punish him pretty bad if she found out but… well, she didn't have to find out, right?

"Okay!" he said with honest excitement as he grabbed Laxus' hand to pull him along. "We have to go inside one of the tents though. It's a secret."

"Cool! Can't wait!"

The two boys ran off, both eager to get to it, but Bickslow most of all. He'd really misjudged this kid. Maybe he was kind of cool after all.

Bickslow didn't even notice as they ran past an older gentleman, but he was easy to miss. Short and unassuming, and dressed in a simple suit with white cape, he didn't exactly stand out in the crowds of the people milling around, still getting the last minute details set up for the circus. A woman walked up behind him, long black hair in a braid and a young toddler set on her hip.

"Hello, Master Makarov," she whispered softly. "Thank you for coming on such short notice."

"I couldn't ignore such a request," he said back to her. "Is that the boy?"

"Yes. Little Bickslow. He's cute, isn't he?"

"He seems a bit gloomy, actually."

"He's going through a phase. It's… it's getting harder to reach him every day. It's why I called you. Do you think you can help him?"

"Seith Magic isn't really my specialty. Aren't you training him well enough?"

"It's not the training that's the problem. It's just he has no good reason to use it, no reason to try. He just sees it as a way to get what he wants. I thought I could help but..." She just sighed and shook her head. "He needs friends. He needs to reach out and find those he can care about and want to help, or he's going to end up alone. Those eyes are going to drive everyone away and he's perfectly content with that."

"Well, he seems to like Laxus. It's a start," Makarov said. "I can't promise anything, short of being willing to take him into the guild one day if he wants to join, but for now maybe a boy his own age is exactly what he needs."

"I hope so. Bickslow really needs it."

"Bickslow. Bickslow, wake up!"

The Seith wizard suddenly jerked awake as he felt something shaking his shoulder aggressively. Looking around in confusion, he didn't understand why Evergreen was standing over him, glaring down at his befuddled expression.

"Wha..." he muttered as he lifted his faceplate to rub at his eyes. "What the hell, Ever?"

"The train is stopped. We've still got a ways to go, and while I was willing to let you sleep on the train, I'm not carrying you. Get up."

"Ugh, slave driver," he muttered before he got up and stretched out. His whole back was cramped up from sleeping slumped over in the seat. Not the best position to relax and catch some rest. Despite being out of it most of the day, he didn't feel all that rested.

"It's not like you didn't get any sleep. Don't complain so much," she said before grabbing her bag. "Freed is already gone, securing a carriage for us. If you sleep any longer the train is going to leave again with you on it."

"Right, right," he said as he woke up his dolls and allowed them to float around to rest on his shoulders and head before grabbing his own things.

"You know, you're going to make them lazy if you let them ride around like that," she stated.

"They're going to be working their little butts off soon with some monster slaying," he replied, though his tone wasn't as playful with the statement as it should have been. Usually he was giddy about bringing them into combat, but he was feeling a bit out of it. Maybe he was still tired. Yeah, that was it.

"It's not like they need rest," she said with a roll of her eyes. "You spoil them, you know that?"

"Yeah, well… it's not really their fault," he said softly. He couldn't help but remember Lisanna just this morning treated them like they were kids, like they were human. She should be careful acting like that, or he was going to start getting selfish when it came to her. Right now she was being way too appealing. Why couldn't she be like everyone else, selfish and petty and uncaring to things she didn't understand? Why'd she have to make him want her so damn much? "They're only babies, after all."

"Huh?"

"Nothing," he muttered. "Let's just go."

End of Chapter 7

I just want to say right now, I adore little Laxus. In all his flashbacks he's such an adorable little sweetie. Somehow the idea of him being super nice to a mean Bickslow just makes me laugh. Unfortunately, solemn Bickslow is kind of sad so for the most part I was kind of morose writing this. Still, I think his backstory will explain a lot about him in the long run.


	8. Chapter 8

I decided to finally let poor Lisanna and Bickslow have some real action between the two. While it's funny to give poor Bickslow have to wait (something I noticed a few of you also enjoyed, ha) I felt I'd messed around with them enough as it was. Poor dears need some real affection.

Chapter 8: In Which Bad Luck Continues… But That Seems to Work

Lisanna stretched out, letting her back pop out as she surveyed the damage around her. Cracked and broken walls, bodies beaten unconscious around her, and every single piece of furniture looked like it bad been broken at the least and at the most had been smashed to little pieces. Yeah, she and Elfman had really messed this place up. It made her grin a bit, a little bit more giddy than she would usually be at the damage. Tenrou Island had been tough, and while she had fought just as hard as everyone else it had made her see she was no Natsu or Laxus, or even Bickslow or Freed.

To go on missions like this, cleaning up a band of bandits near the borders of Fiore that had been bothering travelers and tourists, well it felt good. She wasn't weak, just not as insanely strong as the others. It made her want to train yes, but also let her know she was no dead weight to the guild. It really helped her sense of worth, that was for sure.

"I guess that's that," she said as she transformed back from her Take Over Cat Form to her normal old clothing. She was a little banged up with some minor cuts and bruises on her, but over all she'd fought well. The grin on her face from the fact just wouldn't quit.

"Yeah," Elfman said as he finished tying up the last few of the men who'd been in charge. The leaders weren't going anywhere, not with the beating they'd gotten from him, but it never hurt to be too careful. "I have to admit, I thought this would be a bit harder. The pay is pretty good for such a job."

"Well, their location was pretty out of the way, and the government itself was the one who put out the job," Lisanna said. "I guess they didn't want to risk the soldiers, and the Rune Knights just would have been overkill, don't you think?"

"Yeah, it took real men to go and take care of these losers," he said with a smug grin. Lisanna could tell he was just as pleased with what had really been a dangerous job going down with such ease. "If we Fairy Tail wizards keep handling jobs with combat in them, our reputation will be restored in no time."

"That would be nice," she agreed before pulling out the signal flare in her bag they'd been supplied to set off when the job was done. She moved off to the entrance and pulled the string, sending a magical flame up in the air that exploded in a shower of sparks. "Well, the army should be here any minute to collect these guys. We can get our pay, confirmation on the job being done, and head on home."

It didn't take them long to arrive and after a quick conversation with the sergeant that was in charge of the operation they received their money and thanks for the job being completed swiftly. Elfman was practically swelling with pride when he talked to the military men about how manly such missions were and if he was ever needed again to not hesitate to call. Lisanna just giggled through the whole display before waiting outside for her brother to finish goofing off.

The job really had been a good chance to get back into work and get her feet wet. She didn't mind tending the bar, and she had gotten pretty good at it due to her work in Edolas, but this is where her heart was. The thrill of the mission, the feeling of accomplishment when it was pulled off successfully, and the adrenaline she got from all of it was just too good to pass up. Maybe Mirajane had found her true calling where she was, but such a life would never be for her, not really.

It made her hope when she got back to Magnolia Bickslow would be there. She genuinely did want to learn more magic with him and train, along with their little affair. It would mean getting stronger, getting a chance to know him better, and just having an excuse to spend time with the man. There was virtually no down side that she could see.

"Alright, I guess we're done here," Elfman said as he left the camp as well to join her. "Should we get going?"

"Yeah, sounds good to me," she said with a nod. "It'll be good to get back home soon."

"Did you want to pick out another job when we get back home?" he offered.

"Mmmm, depends," she said. "You've already taken two jobs now. Maybe you should take a break. Besides, I was hoping for a bit of time off to see if Bickslow would show up."

"Bickslow?" he asked with an arched eyebrow. "That guy's not a man."

She couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"You know, I can't help but notice most guys don't fall under your category of men," she pointed out. In fact, she heard him describe women as manly more often.

"I just have very high standards."

"Right, of course."

"Don't see why you need to train with him anyway. You know I'm always available for you, and we have the same kind of magic," he stated.

"Yeah, I know. I just thought I would branch out a bit. There's no harm in it. Besides, you would just teach me how to handle beast or demon souls. I don't think I could really handle that," she replied. It took a lot of strength and willpower to be able to handle such magic and she just didn't feel ready for it. "You know I always want to do my hand to hand with you. No one could possibly top you as a partner in that field. I just… you know, want to see what his magic is about. That's all."

"Well… I guess it is pretty manly of you to expand your horizons, but you need to be careful around him. He seems slippery to me. What kind of man let's dolls fight for him?"

Lisanna felt she was a lot better equipped to judge just how much of a man Bickslow was than her brother, but no way would she say so. Right, like that would go over well. Instead she just shrugged as they continued their hike to town, letting idle chit-chat take place until they got to the train station. Buying their tickets with part of the reward money, she was all to happy to sink down in the seat of the waiting lobby and relax as they waited for the departure time, Elfman going off to buy some lunch for them before they left.

Over all, the journey back was pretty uneventful. Once boarded, she just sat in her seat and watched the scenery pass by. It was just a couple lay overs and transfers and they were nearly home, though it had taken them far into the night and into the next day. Maybe she should think about getting a magical car like what Erza had. It would be a whole lot faster, though pretty draining. She wondered if she could handle such a strain. Maybe it would be good for her in the long run, helping her build up her magical stores of her body.

She should ask Erza if she could borrow hers and give it some test runs. After all, such items were expensive and it's not like she had that much money to drop on one. Still, it'd probably be easier than trains in the long run and cheaper. If she said it was for training she was sure the wizard would have no problem with it.

They were close to home, just a town away in Onibus when a message rang over the intercom.

"Hello, passengers. This is the conductor speaking. Unfortunately it seems the tracks between Onibus and Magnolia have been damaged, and thus a delay will be in place. I would ask everyone continuing on to Magnolia to disembark at Onibus. Replacement tickets will be issued for the next available train. I repeat, if you are heading to Magnolia, please disembark at Onibus and arrangements will be made once the tracks are fixed."

"Are you kidding me?" Lisanna sighed. So much for getting back to wait for Bickslow. She had figured she'd be lucky enough to arrive back before him and wait for him. He'd seemed so out of it when she'd had to break their last meeting. Would he get mad if she wasn't there when he got back? Worse yet, what if went and took another job?

She probably should have figured on them both being so busy when she'd started this. No wonder he wanted to sleep with other woman. She was hardly available for him.

"Nothing to do about it," Elfman replied. "We'll just have to see about getting the tickets exchanged, and there are plenty of nice hotels around in Onibus. Either that or we can work on your muscles a bit and hike back if you want to."

"Nice, but expensive," she sighed, weighing the option of just going on foot to get back in time to see if Bickslow was back yet. "You think the station will be willing to spring for hotel rooms as compensation if we have to stay?"

"Probably not, but we can ask," he answered.

By the time they'd collected their bags and made their way off the train, she was feeling kind of down. When she'd first asked Bickslow to start sleeping with her, she'd envisioned a hot affair, full of passionate nights and endless pleasures. Why in the world hadn't she figured on the real world getting in the way? Perhaps she should have been more realistic.

"Natsu and Lucy are so lucky. They get to travel together. Bet they never have a problem finding time alone," she sighed to herself. She was almost jealous of those two. Their relationship seemed rocky, but she could tell by looking at it from the outside that they were going to hook up. Heck, from what she heard Natsu was already sleeping over at the blonde's house all the time anyway. She wondered for a second if they'd already crossed that threshold of sleeping together. Nah, Lucy still seemed way too shy for that. Maybe they just needed more time. Still, at least Celestial Wizard had privacy to do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted.

"Elfman! Is that you?"

Both Strauss siblings looked up to see none other than Evergreen making her way through the crowd to approach them, followed by Freed and Bickslow. No way! What luck!

"I thought it was you. Then again, who else could have your ungodly bulk. It's not hard to miss you in a crowd," she stated as she reached them. "What are you two doing here? Did you get delayed by the trains as well?"

"Yeah. We just got off ours a few minutes ago," Lisanna said as she glanced over at Bickslow a couple times, still smiling. He gave a grin back, sticking his tongue out of his mouth. She barely resisted the urge to giggle. "We were told the tracks were damaged or something."

"Sadly, that's very much true. There was some minor flooding near Magnolia," Freed explained. "Nothing major. I heard not even the town was reached, but the tracks were submerged. It'll probably take a day to drain the water back out through the canals, if not longer."

"We were trying to get our own tickets exchanged, but we've given up getting through these lines," Evergreen said as she fanned herself. "We got here a few hours ago from the south and it's been nothing but a headache ever since. Because they don't know when the tracks will be clear they don't want to issue replacement tickets until they know exactly what trains can go out. It's causing a fiasco for those in a hurry so we decided just to get a hotel for the night and try again in the morning."

True enough, it seemed the station was crammed full of irritated people who were demanding help and refunds from the poor employees. Didn't look like any of them would be getting service any time soon.

"Staying does sound pretty smart," Lisanna agreed. "Though from the looks of things we'll probably have to spring for it ourselves. Even if they station was willing to pay, it doesn't look like we'd get help from them any time soon."

"We could always just walk," Elfman suggested. "For your training."

"But it's late in the afternoon, and you're talking about whole forests and a desert to get through," Lisanna said while she thought of those headaches, and worst off, no Bickslow if they trekked back home. "It'll be dark before we could make it back. We'd be lucky if we made it back to Magnolia in the morning. We'd only be saving a couple hours, and that's only if we didn't stop for camp."

"I agree," Freed said. "Speaking from personal experience when I made the trip with Wendy, it's not a venture to take lightly. By the time we reached there, she was the only one in good health."

"Well, Wendy is more of a man that you'll ever-"

"Big Brother," Lisanna cut off quickly. "Look, we're already here and it doesn't seem smart to try to walk. Why not stay here for the night?"

"Yes, and besides what kind of man makes a young lady go on some hike just because he's too cheap to spring for a hotel?" Ever asked with a snort.

"It's not being cheap!" he snapped at her. "It's manly to meet a goal head on!"

"Well maybe you haven't noticed but your sister is not a man!"

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK!"

"IT'S TRUE, YOU IDIOT! MORE THAN THAT, IT'S NOT AN INSULT!"

"Uh… should we try to split them up?" Lisanna asked as the two continued to scream at one another.

"Why?" Bickslow asked with a laugh. "This is hilarious!"

"Hee hee! Fight! Fight!" his dolls encouraged, obviously finding it funny as well.

"Do you really think it would even do any good?" Freed pointed out.

"Yeah, probably not," she agreed before sighing. "Well, I guess we're staying then. Honestly, it does seem like the best option anyway."

Bickslow glanced over at her from behind Freed's back and his smile suddenly seemed to go dark. It took every once of will power not to shiver at the sight.

"We're leaving," Bickslow said loudly to the fighting pair and the three went off. Sure enough it didn't take long for Evergreen and Elfman to shout in surprise and run after them.

"Hey! Don't leave me behind!" they both shouted together, causing everyone to laugh a bit, except of course those two who just got red in embarrassment and anger.

In the end, they all decided to get a hotel together and when a train became available, just to get on it as a large group and head home. Lisanna couldn't be happier for the arrangement, feeling it would be great for getting some time with her lover.

"You know what, I'm feeling kind of hungry," Evergreen said once they'd gotten rooms. One for Bickslow and Freed, one for Lisanna and her brother and then one Ever could have to herself. She'd refused to room with her team, insisting a lady needed her space, though she had offered to room with Lisanna, which had been nice but Elfman had insisted on Lisanna sleeping with him. He really put the emphasis on protective sibling, didn't he?

"It is a bit early for dinner, but if you want to get a meal now that might be wise," Freed said as he handed out the keys they'd gotten for the rooms.

"I think I will. Well, are you coming, Elfman?" she asked out of the blue, causing the large man to stare at her.

"W-what?" he asked.

"I think I'll do some shopping afterward, and I need someone to carry my bags for me," she said with a shrug.

"I'm not your errand boy, woman!"

"Oh? You're not man enough to handle it?" she asked with an arched eyebrow. "Well, never mind. I'll just have Freed and Bickslow come with me then."

"Now wait a minute! I'm more than man enough to carry anything you get! Those two don't have enough muscles for the way you shop!" he objected quickly.

"Well, if you insist," she sighed out, though Lisanna could tell she was grinning from behind her fan.

"I do! Come on! We're going to dinner and you better not even think about paying! That's the man's job, and you aint nearly man enough to do that!"

"I think that's the first smart thing you've said since I've seen you," she laughed as the two walked off.

"Wow… is it really that easy?" Lisanna asked. Her brother had been played so hard, it made her happy she was the one with the pay from their job and not him. She'd hate to think of all their home repair money going toward jewelry and wine or whatever else the woman would want to get. Let her spend her own money on that stuff.

"No, he's just that big of an idiot," Bickslow snickered.

"That's not nice!" Lisanna protested, but he only giggled loudly with his babies.

"Don't take offense, Lisanna," Freed said. "Evergreen has just always had that affect on men. She doesn't mean anything malicious by it. It's just her way of getting a date, not that she'd admit it. Deep down, she's actually very shy about her feelings towards your brother but I can assure you that they are genuine."

"Well… as long as it works for them," she said. Not like she could judge based on her own relationship status right now. It probably wasn't any more normal than what she'd just witnessed.

"In any case, I think I'll be retiring for the day," Freed said. "I'm am feeling a bit fatigued myself."

"You're not going to get anything to eat, man?" Bickslow asked him.

"I will probably eat in the cafe attached to the hotel later on when I'm hungry. Either that or just some room service," he said. "It really is too early for dinner, at least for me. What about you, Bickslow? Will you be out of the room for a while?"

"Yeah, might as well hang out somewhere," he said with a shrug before grinning at Lisanna. "Want to do something?"

"Oh, uh sure," she said with a nod. "I just have to get my things up to my room and then we can head out."

"Well, you two have fun then. I'll take our bags up for us, Bickslow," Freed offered before collecting their things along with Evergreen's and heading to the elevator. They just took the stairs instead and they didn't even get to the second floor before he pulled her off into a corner to lip lock with her.

"Oh god, Bickslow," she mewled against his lips. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, babe," he grunted before moving to attack her neck. She just pushed herself against him, not caring if anyone saw. Who in this town knew them? To anyone they could just be a happy couple unable to contain themselves in each others arms. "Fuck, I really missed this."

"Do you think Freed suspected anything?" she gasped out when he yanked the side of her t-shirt down to bite at her shoulder. She hissed but didn't stop him, too wrapped up in seeing him again to care. Besides, she was sort of covered in scratches anyway. What was one more small mark?

"Nah. Like I'm the type to sit around in a hotel room all day," he groaned.

"Well, I can think of a couple things we could do in my room," she said with coy look. Without a moment of hesitation, he grabbed her wrist and yanked her up the rest of the stairs while the babies carried her luggage for her. They were already kissing again by the time they reached her room, her struggling with the lock as he ground himself against her. Literally tumbling into the room, she kicked the door closed after nearly falling on the floor with him and pulled him to the bed, giggling the whole time.

"Babies," he groaned as she started to yank off his shirt and kiss at his chest. "Go to sleep."

"Awww. Exhibitionist Lisanna!" they whined but he only waved his hand and they fell straight down from where they'd been floating around.

"That doesn't hurt them, does it?" she asked, feeling a bit concern for them as they hit the floor.

"Nah. They're fine. Besides, they don't need to be seeing us right now."

"Yeah, I think I'd like to avoid that again," she agreed as she shoved him down to lay on the bed and made quick work of his pants.

"Damn, Lisanna. Eager much?" he groaned, though he didn't look like he minded at all.

"It's been nearly two weeks since we saw one another," she said as she yanked her shirt off and shimmied out of her shorts. "I was kicking myself the whole time for not meeting you in the guild hall like we'd agreed."

"Yeah, but it wasn't a big deal," he said before she kissed him to shut him up.

"It was to me," she confessed. "I really wanted to see you that night. If I hadn't been up half the night with my brother and sister, I would have been with you, trust me."

She felt him grab her sides so harshly it would surely bruise, but she didn't mind. The two still in their underwear, they kissed passionately on her bed, rubbing against one another eagerly.

"If you say things like that, I'm gonna start getting possessive," he growled out. "You don't know how badly I want you."

"Sure I do. I-"

"No," he said suddenly, his gaze so intense that for a second she wondered if he was going to use his eyes on her. "You really don't."

She could only stare at him but the intense moment seemed to break because in a second he bucked up into her and she cried out happily. It didn't ever seem to take much to get her going with him and she was pleased as punch to see him reaching for his pants and grabbing little plastic packages from his pockets.

"You had those on hand? Really?" she asked with a groan. Maybe they were for some other girl, but for now she was going to tell herself it was because he was just so eager to sleep with her the second he got home and saw her.

"I didn't want to risk our next meeting," he hissed. She didn't quite believe him, but didn't say anything. Why ruin her own little fantasy?

"Did you think of this a lot?" she purred to him as her fingers trailed down his well sculptured chest, feeling all the dips and curves of the muscles underneath his skin. He was already covered in a thin layer of sweat and panting hard, though that probably had to do with the fact she was sitting right on the bulge in his boxers.

"All fucking day," he groaned out. "You?"

"Every second," she agreed before she gave a little twist of her hips that made him bite back a scream. She'd been so frustrated with the lack of him, she'd grabbed a couple of dirty magazines and had been reading them whenever her brother hadn't been looking. She'd picked up a couple tricks she was just dying to try out with him. She grabbed his hands and shoved them up above over his head. His eyes widened, clearly surprised but he didn't fight against her grip even though she knew that he could have easily overpowered her. "Grab the headboard, and don't you dare let go until I tell you that you can."

She was pleased when he silently nodded and gripped the bars, his eyes still wide as he watched her slowly pulled one of the packages open. She winked at him as she slipped his boxers off his hips, intentionally going as slow as possible, the condom clenched in her teeth. The girl really did want to make it up to him that she'd broken her promise to see him after all. Moving slowly down his body, she made sure the piece of rubber was properly set in her mouth before she slowly moved down his member. His gasp hit her ears as she placed his condom on with her mouth, dragging her teeth over it as she pulled away.

There was certainly a sense of smugness in her when he could only gape at her.

"Where… the fuck… did you learn that?" he gasped out.

"I've been practicing," she informed him. "I wanted to make sure you enjoyed it when I saw you next."

"Oh?" he asked, his expression darkening. "With who?"

"Jealous much?" she asked teasingly as she curled a finger under his chin. "You were the one who said we wouldn't be sleeping with just each other."

"And you said you didn't want to have other guys," he bit out. She had to admit, it sent a little thrill in her that despite his words, he clearly didn't like the thought of anyone touching her. Another part of her thought that was bull though, considering he'd probably dipped into a couple girls himself on his trip. She only leaned against him though, rubbing her hands over his shoulders as she traced her tongue over the shell of his ear.

"Unless you want to go and pulverize the few cucumbers and bananas I no doubt made feel very lucky with my mouth to learn that trick for you, you don't have any reason to be mad," she promised him. "I really don't want anyone else."

He grumbled a bit but she couldn't make out what he was saying. Oh well, it didn't matter. No doubt he was just being a typical territorial man. Wanted plenty of girls but goodness forbid she go looking. He was just lucky she liked the fact he looked smoldering when he was upset or else she'd probably kick him out of the room until he could calm down.

"Relax, Bickslow," she said as she stripped off her bra and panties. "Trust me, there's no one else. You're the one I was thinking about the entire trip. It was driving me crazy to be without you."

"Sure that craziness didn't tempt you?"

"Oh, it did, trust me. In all sorts of delicious ways," she informed him as she lined up with his member and began to sink down on it, holding it in both hands to keep him in place for her. "Which is exactly why there is now a line of molested fruit and vegetables between here and the border of Fiore because I needed your touch so badly."

He groaned and twisted around, but didn't let go of the bars and she sighed happily. She could already feel it herself, that wonderful feeling that came with being connected to him. There was no harm in letting him set the pace as she rode him happily, crying out his name over and over as they fucked one another. His jealousy was clear to her, inexperienced maybe but she wasn't dumb, and he wasn't hiding it very well.

It was just as well though, since she was already starting to feel just as jealous as he obviously was. As hard as they had to fight to get some time alone together, she felt she had more claim on him than some random girl he'd just find on a job. Lisanna never felt she was the jealous type. She'd certainly never felt envy over Natsu hanging out with other girls, both before and after Edolas, but the thought of Bickslow with anyone else drove her crazy. She wanted him to see how good she could be in bed, how much she'd practiced just to pleasure him. Her hands planted on his washboard abs for stability as she rode his cock, her chest bouncing from the exertion but refusing to give up until he cried out and came inside of her, showing him her stamina and that she could go as long as he needed her to.

No one could scream his name like she could, would work so hard to get him to come. Even when they did eventually part ways and end this, she didn't want some other woman involved during it and tainting their memories together. She just wanted him and for him to feel so satisfied with her that he wouldn't even have the desire to go out with another girl.

They fucked so hard she knew she'd have bruises that would match those from her fight, but Lisanna didn't care. When she finally screamed and collapsed against him, she only clung to him and kissed him even more passionately. She didn't protest when he flipped her on her stomach and yanked her hips up, slamming into her from behind so hard her face and hands were pushed up against the headboard, or when he yanked her into his lap and literally made her bounce on his cock as she cried from the intensity of the pleasure. His touch was both harsh and somehow sweet, caressing her after every time with a tenderness that felt so perfect even as it contradicted the almost violent sex.

And maybe she just imagined it but when he fucked her for the last time, leaning her over the dresser and making it bang so loudly she was glad it wasn't late enough for anyone to be sleeping next door and thus hear the noise, she could have sworn she kept hearing him hiss how she belonged to him and only him.

Maybe it was just wishful thinking though.

Chapter 8

Yeah, these two are perfect together and I will go down with this ship. Nothing can persuade me otherwise.

As always, if you liked then please review. I do so love the comments you guys make.


	9. Chapter 9

First off I want to say thank you so much to all of my readers. I'm surprised to see I've got so many followers and reviews for this little story that really just started off as a porny little one shot. Everyone has been really supportive and I'm really glad that everyone has enjoyed this fic so far. It really surprised me because while Bickslow and Lisanna is generally accepted in the fandom, I had no idea a little story about them would get so much love so quickly. It's really wonderful of all of you to be so supportive of it.

In any case, I hope you all like this chapter.

Chapter 9: In Which One Must Live for Themself Too

"I'm a little surprised my brother isn't back yet."

"I'm very happy your brother isn't back yet."

Lisanna chuckled and shook her head as she pulled her clothing back on. Bickslow was still laying out on her bed, naked as the day he was born and looking rather pleased with himself. He kept smiling every time she looked at him, making her feel both beautiful and oddly self-conscious at the same time. She was tired but very satisfied with how this little accident of bumping into him had turned out.

"Come on, you need to get dressed," she said as she started to straighten up the room. She didn't want it to be a total disaster when her brother got back, and considering it was starting to get dark she imagined he'd be returning any second.

"Alright," he groaned as he slipped out of the bed and started to pull his own clothing on. She couldn't help but eye him as he had her. It was odd, but even watching him pull on his pants over his toned hips seemed oddly sexual to her, like it was some kind of reverse strip tease. She found herself smiling coyly, wondering if she begged him enough someday if she could get him to dance for her as he pulled off his clothes. He certainly had the body and confidence to pull it off, that was for sure.

"I still don't see why you wear so much," she commented just as he had his shirt on, followed by his tunic, cape and hood, and finally his faceplate. "Really, you hide such a great body."

"I think it looks good," he said as she finished up by making the bed, glad they'd not made any stains when they'd been so crazy with one another. She would have hated to need to call house cleaning so late in the day. "Why? You don't like it?"

"It's not that I don't like it. It's just that you look so handsome. I don't understand why you hide it all the time. Why not show off every once in a while?" Lisanna asked.

He turned to her after pulling his boots on before pushing up the metal covering his eyes and gave her a look. It was fairly even and for a moment she wondered if she'd been too pushy before he grinned a bit.

"Would you like it if I showed off a bit more?" he asked as he approached her. He didn't even touch her but she felt her breath catch in her throat. He'd leaned in, their gaze locked, and she felt her heart hammering in her throat. "Would that please you, Lisanna?"

She could only silently nod as she felt her face heating up quickly. How was it they could be talking about something so simple as his fashion choices and yet something about their conversation sounded so sensual to her?

"Here. Come with me," he said as he slipped his hand into hers and pulled her gently along. "Come on, babies. We're going out."

"Where are we going?" she asked as they shuddered and came back to life, following the pair as they left the room.

"Out. You haven't had dinner yet, right? You need some food," he replied. "Ah, just a second."

She suddenly found herself at another door that she could only assume was his when he slipped inside. There were a couple muffled voices from the inside but she couldn't make out what was being said. Only a few moments later, Bickslow was back out with her. His mask and cloak was gone, along with the wrap around his legs. His tunic was missing too, leaving him only in a black slacks and a shirt that he had rolled the sleeves up on.

"Ready to go," he said as she could only stare at him. "Huh? What is it? Isn't this what you wanted?"

"I… wow," she said as she eyed him up and down, too shocked to really be subtle. Without so many layers, it really did present a nice package.

He only laughed and hooked an arm over her shoulder, pulling her along with him.

"You sure are easily impressed. It's not like this is fancy or anything."

"Yeah… but… it still is a good look for you," she said as her eyes roamed over him. Maybe she was being too obvious but she just couldn't stop herself. He wasn't overly muscular, not like her brother or Laxus, but he definitely had muscles, not lithe in the way Freed was. Honestly, the way his arms were exposed and his pants suddenly seemed a bit tight on him without the wrap in the way to look like some weird skirt… well, he just looked hot. It kind of made her feel a little cocky to have his arm around her, babies floating along behind them, and knowing she was probably the only girl he'd be paying any attention to tonight. The attention of such a good looking guy was a decent reason to be so smug. It was like she was a mature and beautiful woman, more than enough to satisfy his desire for company.

"So where did you want to eat?" she asked him as they walked along down the street. Twilight was quickly giving way to full night and the street lamps were starting to light up around them.

"There's a nearby restaurant I've hit a few times with Freed and Evergreen. A bit fancy for me, but great food. She loves it," he replied.

"If she likes it so much, don't you think that is where she and Elf will be?"

"Doubt it. They went out for dinner hours ago. She probably has him along with her shopping up half the market by now. It's why she's still in debt after so many jobs. She likes spending money on fancy things so much instead of paying off her back rent. So really, knowing she had to go to that restaurant and that she's no doubt already done there, it's the safest place to it. Besides, it's the only place I know here that serves food."

"Well, in that case it sounds good to me," Lisanna replied before he pulled her a little closer, his arm slipping from down her shoulder to her hip. Her cheeks felt hot, but she didn't push him away, not wanting to. Now that they weren't in Magnolia there wasn't really a reason to worry about getting seen by anyone and it was fun to go out with him like this. It seemed he wasn't as worried either, really being affectionate with her. It was making her belly do flip-flops, feeling as tense and high strung as she had been after their first night together but without any worries about exposing their secret, it was more thrilling than anything.

When they reached the restaurant, they slipped into a table set for two and were handed menus. The waiter they had gave Bickslow an odd look as he glanced over at the dolls flying around them, but Bickslow just waved him off to come back later when they were ready to order. Lisanna felt kind of hungry after their activities and wondered if it was okay to splurge a bit of the money she'd earned.

"Get whatever you want, babe," he said as he looked at his own menu. "My treat."

"Really?" she asked, a little surprised. "I thought we'd just pay for our own meals."

He only shrugged and she bit her lip. Aside from her brother, no guy had ever paid for her before. Even Natsu had always insisted on splitting the bill whenever they ate together and that had always been a pain because she'd had to explain to him every time that she was not paying half of the bill when she'd only had one plate of food and he'd consumed down something close to five or six. She didn't think he'd ever really gotten her reasoning.

"Well, in that case I want the lobster," she stated with a grin, wanting to feel a bit spoiled by him. Why not indulge in the generous offer? She probably wouldn't get that again any time soon.

He nodded and waved the waiter over, ordering her meal and then a steak for himself along with a bottle of wine. She had to giggle, especially considering they were the least appropriately dressed people here, in just shorts and pants and t-shirts while everyone else was in suits and dresses. Yet here they were getting expensive dinners and wine after having intense sex all over her hotel room. This was the closest thing she'd ever had a date and yet it was so backwards she just couldn't stop grinning.

"What?" he asked as he rested his arms against the table to lean in closer to her. "Why are you smiling like that?"

"Oh, it's just funny," she informed him.

"What is?"

"This. Us. The whole situation we're in," she explained. "I mean, I never would have thought the two of us would do anything like this. It's really kind of swept me off of my feet, but in a good way. I mean, I had never even kissed a guy before you. My first relationship was more pretending house than anything else." She was so preoccupied with what she was saying that she didn't even notice his sudden scowl at the mention of Natsu. "Yet here I am with you, having lobster and wine in my shorts after having probably the hottest sex ever. It's just amazing to me."

"I take it amazing is a good thing?" he asked her.

"Oh, definitely," she replied with a wink.

"Well then, let's hope for many more nights like this."

"Sounds good to me," she agreed.

Their idle chat lasted throughout their dinner. The bottle of wine was sweet and went down well with the sweet, buttery lobster. She had a bit more than was really wise, but she didn't really care. After all, what was she scared of, having Bickslow take advantage of her? Too late for that. So she happily sipped down glass after glass as they talked about Fairy Tail, his teammates and her family, and how funny they both found it that they were doing such things and no one was the wiser. He seemed to think she had such an innocent persona that no would ever think she'd be the type that had enjoyed the things he'd done to her, and she had to admit that his theory fit well enough.

"I don't know why they see me as such a child," she admitted once the plates were cleared away and all they had left was the wine. He'd offered her dessert and she was currently eating a decadent piece of cheese cake they'd brought over to her on the cart. "I mean, I am seventeen after all, and I'll be eighteen soon enough. It's only three months away."

"You did leave when you were fifteen," he admitted, "and it affected everyone. It makes sense they want you to stay a little girl they can protect and keep safe."

"Yeah, I guess that's true, but what happened back then doesn't have anything to do with this. I know them though. If I ever let it slip I was with you, they'd really flip out. Big Brother Elf wouldn't want me with anyone he didn't personally approve of and hand pick, and even then there would probably be constant checks that he was manly enough for me. Mira would be just as bad in different ways. She'd probably want me with some innocent or clueless guy that would just sing me sweet songs and treat me like a delicate flower."

"Yeah, no doubt. They'd want what they thought was best for you."

"But that's not what I want, and it's not what I need either," Lisanna told him seriously. "I want someone like you, Bickslow. Someone who will let me do things like slip a condom on with my mouth, or take me right up against the wall and then just make love to me another night depending on the mood we're both in, not just one of us. Someone who will respect my feelings and opinions and actually talk to me about them, not just worry about me constantly as if I'm not able to handle things on my own. My brother and sister cherish me, and I love them for it, but they'd pick someone who would love me like they do, like I was some piece of glass. I need more than that. I need someone who can look at me and not be afraid I'll get broken if I'm handled with less than immaculate care. I… I think that's why I kissed you back that night. No one had ever just grabbed me like that, but it was still clear to me when you pulled away you were thinking about my feelings and how I felt about it. You didn't force me but you didn't act like I was some dainty flower you'd just plucked and somehow ruined. So I let it go further because I wanted to see just how much I could have of that."

She felt like she'd probably said a lot all of a sudden, but the fact of the matter was that it was all true. He didn't see one side of her, either a pretty doll that could never get dirty or a woman that was just for sex and nothing more. He fucked her like she craved, but she knew he respected her thoughts and feelings too. She was more complex than what people around her thought she was and it really helped her to know he could see it, even if no one else was willing to.

"If you said it to them like that, I don't think they'd understand," he confessed before he smirked devilishly. "They'd probably just get caught up on the condom part."

She couldn't help but snicker at his joke, feeling it was right on the mark.

"I'd probably have to phrase it more delicately for them."

"But," he continued as he laid a hand over hers. Gently, he stroked a thumb over the back of her hand. "I don't care. Even if they don't get it, get you, I do. Lisanna, you're a smart, sexy, confident woman and I want you so badly. Even what I had with you in the hotel earlier wasn't entirely enough, not for me. I want to have you all the time, because you're right. You are complex. You more than just a little sister than needs to be protected. The things you do to me, how you make me feel without even trying, it's not something I'm willing to give up on just when we started it."

"It's only too bad we have to keep it a secret," she admitted. "We could be together all the time, just like you want. Instead after tonight we'll be back on that train, under the watch of everyone in Magnolia and we'll probably have to go another set of weeks until we can have fun like this again."

He stood up suddenly, pulling her up with her. Before she could ask what he was doing so suddenly, he threw some jewels on the table and walked out with her.

"Bickslow, where are we going now?" she asked him but he only smirked at her.

"If we only have tonight, then we better make sure it's some real fun," he informed her. "We'll go to one of the places I like to hang out at."

"Hang out! Music! Dancing!" his babies suddenly cheered. Clearly they already knew the destination he had in mind and from the sounds of it, it was going to be pretty wild.

After leaving the pricier district where all the museums, little cafes, the theater and all other high class things were she found herself in front of a bar where several people were hanging out in front of, drinks in hand and laughing loudly. The beat of the music was already shaking her body, it was so loud and lights seemed to be flashing from the inside, shining out through the open door. The wine in her system was already affecting her and she knew going into a bar like this with a guy like him was hardly a good idea.

Which is probably why she went in.

The music was just as loud inside as it was outside. There was a bar yes, and a small handful of tables for people to sit at but it seemed it was only to be able to rest or have a drink. About two thirds of the area was a large open floor that was crowded with people dancing, moving against each other and with such fluid movements she felt a little intimidated. Once again her lack of experience was apparent to her all of a sudden.

The only dancing she'd ever done was ballroom that her brother had taught her once. Apparently leading was manly and he'd needed someone to practice with so she'd learned. Of course there had been the occasionally festival where she'd bounced around and waved her arms to the music, but this was different. Here the people ground together and seemed to move as a unit, chaotic indivuals but in synch somehow. It was like watching snakes writhe together, moving over one another and never missing a beat or a step. It was downright sexual. She'd never, not once, danced like that.

She was beginning to realize there were a lot of things she'd never done before Bickslow.

It was time to change that.

He bought a couple shots of sweet liquid at the bar and she slammed hers down. His laugh was contagious as he bought another round and she stole both of them, drinking them down before he had a chance to take his own. He shot her a mock glare but she only laughed more as she pushed up close to him, trailing fingers over his chest. They were in a crowded area, even more so than on the streets or in the restaurant or even in the halls of the hotel, and like before no one knew them here. Here they were just another set of young people out to have a good time. People who needed the night to be lively and wild and had come for entertainment that was boisterous and perhaps even a little naughty.

The alcohol was swimming in her head, making her feel warm against him, or maybe that was just his natural body heat. Like the wine it had been smooth and sweet, easy to drink and didn't burn going down. Perhaps it would lead to her having a bit too much, maybe doing something foolish.

Lisanna almost hoped that was the case.

"I want to dance," she whispered to him, and even though it was loud inside the bar with the lacrima created music and people yelling for orders, he seemed to hear her clearly. His hands rested on her hips and he kissed her while he grinned. She could smell the liquor on his breath that mingled with her own and it made her feel alive in a way she would have never thought possible.

"Then let's dance," he hissed back and led her to the dance floor.

He moved smoothly through the people there, taking his place as easily as any of them. It was like he was born to be there and even the dolls bobbed around so effortlessly it was like they'd just fallen into it seamlessly, like they'd always done this and nothing else for their entire existence. It looked perfect to her and she wanted desperately to be part of it, to fit in as well to this exciting movement as he did.

"Here," he said as he took her body and began to move her with him. He'd turned her around so that she was facing away from him and at first it confused her, but then he started to touch her, to lead her without words on how to move. Familiar fingers traced over her arms as he gently guided her to start to move to the beat. It was hard and hot, but sensual at the same time and she could feel it in her whole being. She let herself fall to the sensations, raising her arms at the slightest provocation, shifted her hips in just the way he seemed to want her to when he nudged her.

The drinks and the music seemed to mix together in her, guiding her movements just as much as he was. She would have thought she'd be clumsy here yet all too soon Lisanna was moving along with the crowd just like he was. It was fluid and hot, the air thick but she reveled in it. Despite the heat, his fingers moving over her body caused goosebumps and she shivered as she pushed her back into his chest. She was so close to him it was like they were the only two on the floor that mattered and when she closed her eyes and let her head fall back on his shoulder she was completely lost to him.

His hands moved all over her, pushing her shirt up a bit to trace lazy patterns over her stomach, trailed over the edges of her shorts, and brushed over the fabric of her chest, just enough to tease her. Her hand moved behind his head and tangled up in his hair as she twisted her head around a bit and their eyes met. Flashes of green, red and purple lights flared up in the room, yet all she seemed to be able to see was the sharp hazel of his eyes.

She wasn't aware of when they started kissing. Maybe she'd pulled him to her lips or maybe he'd moved on his own. It just happened, one moment nothing and then an electric feeling of heat sizzling between them. His lips were rough and his tongue wet inside of her mouth. Like every other part of their body, it followed the rhythm of the music. They followed the thrumming beat with their whole being, even her heart pounding in time to it.

His lips moved over her, a quick bite to her jaw before he pushed his hips a little more forcefully against her backside. She could feel it, just how much the music and dancing was affecting him. If the air around them was hot, he was an inferno against her. This sort of thing would burn her, she was sure, but she welcomed it. She craved it. Since the night at Fairy Tail with him, sprawled out on the bar and feeling so alive with pleasure, something in her had awoken. There was a world out there of delights she'd never had before.

He had though. He'd seen so much, done so much and she wanted it. All of it. How many more things were out there that she could experience, and more importantly experience with him?

His lips found that normal spot on her neck he seemed to like so much, just at the joint of her shoulder that most shirts would cover and could be hidden without much effort for when he marked her. The song they were dancing to had lyrics that pounded in her brain, words that spoke of filthy things, of hard but emotional sex that rocked the world of the singer. It sung of the act like it was an addiction but one that could not be done without, one without a cure. She found she liked the words, the deep feeling it seemed to make pulse inside of her very soul.

Bickslow seemed to like the song just as much as she did, especially with what he was doing to her. It took her a moment before she realized his lips were moving against her skin not in random kisses, but that he was mouthing the words against her body. If he was saying anything she couldn't hear it, but it was too loud to hear anything but the music now. Maybe he was singing, maybe not. It didn't seem to matter. She could hear the words one way or the other and she could certainly feel what he was doing. It was like he was saying all those things directly to her, pushing them into her very skin and making the meaning seared into her body. The wizard was sure she'd moaned from the sensations of it all, but it was swallowed up in the noise of the bar.

He must have heard it though, because he suddenly grabbed her waist and yanked her against him. Her arms went over her head, tangling into his hair as he full on drug himself against her body. Their clothes were getting rumpled as they moved and twisted together but she didn't care. Who cared if she looked indecent on the dance floor of a bar with her lover? What did it matter if he made her need things that would make her sister scold her over for weeks? This was too wonderful to let go, in every sense of the word. She'd accept it happily, took it all in as long as he was willing to give it to her.

Let him be jealous, to claim and want her as much as said he did. He could have her body, have her soul and mind as long as these feelings never stopped. He could hold her as tightly as he felt like because in his arms she felt it. That wonderful sensation that she hadn't known existed before him but now that she did know, she needed just as badly as the singer of this song needed his own lover.

In Bickslow's arms, she felt freedom. Real, true freedom to be her own person and have a sliver of life all of her own. The things he'd shown her, the emotions he'd made her feel, how could she ever let go of them now?

End of Chapter 9

I listened to a lot of music to get myself in the proper mood for this chapter and it was a lot of fun. I can imagine I was probably the sight, bobbing my head to the same techno music playing over and over while I typed furiously at my computer. I probably looked crazed, but it was so worth it.


	10. Chapter 10

Well, here we are at chapter 10. I have to admit that I'm feeling pretty accomplished about this story. I've certainly been enjoying writing it, that's for sure and I'm glad you've all been so giving with the reviews and encouragement. It's been one of the things that has made this story so fun for me and I hope I can keep it up in the future for you guys.

As stated before, I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. It's just a smutty little tribute to two characters I absolutely adore.

Chapter 10: In Which Secrets are Shared

The train ride back went by fairly smoothly. All five of them ended up sitting close together, having gotten the same train back to Magnolia, but it was a fairly quiet. Aside from casual conversation on how their respective missions had gone and how eager they all were to get back, there wasn't much said and Bickslow took the opportunity to just relax, for once not saying much himself.

Last night with Lisanna had been pretty wild. They'd spent hours dancing and drinking, something she seemed to have enjoyed quite a lot. It had been a shame to see it end, walking her back to her room. They'd found it odd that Elfman still hadn't returned and wondered if he'd been out looking for his little sister. However when Bickslow had passed Evergreen's room, from the noises he'd heard inside that was nowhere near the case. When he'd inquired privately with the youngest Strauss sibling, she'd confessed that her brother had not returned to the room until very late, almost three in the morning. Bickslow had been between laughing and feeling a little irritated with the knowledge in hindsight he could have spent a little bit more time with the young woman in her bed.

If Freed had noticed anything about the late arrivals of everyone else, he hadn't said anything. He'd been asleep by the time Bickslow had reached their room and when the Seith wizard had woken up with a hangover, his teammate had simply gotten him some water and ordered him a simplistic breakfast from room service. He had to admit, it was really nice to have someone who was so calm and collected about most of the chaos that happened around him. It made mornings like that much more bearable.

His headache was nearly gone now, his visor pulled tight over his face to keep any light out of his vision. Even the babies were less active on the ride home, as if just as tired out from the night of partying. He glanced over at Lisanna, curled up on her seat with her legs pulled up to her chest and watching out the window she was sitting next to. While she looked a bit tired, it didn't seem she was any worse for wear, and when she happened to glance back at him, she gave a small smile.

Bickslow had to admit, last night had been pretty good. She'd turned out to be a great dancer, as sexy with her body out of the bedroom as she was in it. It would have been easy to keep all their activities limited to sex and nothing more, but the fact was he simply enjoyed her company. Younger than him and a lot of fun, she had energy to spare. Not to mention she was good to his babies. What was there not to like?

He'd only have to make sure he could pull her away for a fake magic lesson here or there. There wouldn't be a lot of chance encounters outside of Magnolia after all. He was pretty grateful for that coincidental flooding that had set them up so nicely to spend the evening together. Bickslow was in no rush to see their fun get nipped in the bud so easily and he wanted her to remain interested for as long as possible. No more dry spells, not if he could help it.

When the train pulled to a stop, he stood and stretched his arms out, happy to be back despite everything. His room was probably dusty and would need cleaning, and he had to make sure his payment went to taking care of his back rent. Most of his debt was nearly wiped away. Two or three more jobs would do it, or just one if he went on a solo mission and didn't have to split the pay.

"It's good to finally be back in town," Freed said as they all disembarked the train.

"I agree," Evergreen said with a pleased smile as she fanned her face. "So good to be away from that monster infested ocean."

"You just didn't like it because all of those squids went after you," Bickslow snickered. "You women and your tentacles."

"Tentacle party! Tentacle party!" his babies cat called.

"Sh-shut up! And don't let them say those vulgar things to me! I'm a delicate lady!"

"Yeah, yeah," he replied with a grin.

"Well, we'd better head back to the guild," Lisanna said as she stepped off the train as well with her brother. "Are you guys coming?"

"I'd love to, dearie, but I have to get all this back home," Evergreen said as she pointed to the several bags. Clearly she'd gotten quite a few things.

"Geez, Ever. You're never going to get out of the red like this," Bickslow pointed out.

"Hmph. Oh, what do you know?"

"I know how to save my money for one. Did you spend all your pay on that stuff?" he taunted out but she only smirked at him. Not a usual reaction to his teasing, that was for sure.

"Freed, do you think you could do us a favor and take the paperwork back to the guild for us?" she suddenly asked as she turned to their other teammate.

"Of course, I don't mind," he said with a nod of his head.

"Good. Bickslow, grab my bags," she said with a sweet smile.

"What?" he asked in confusion. Why the hell should he carry her bags? Didn't she have Elfman for that now?

"My bags," she stated as she picked up a couple herself, though they were clearly the lightest. "You don't expect me to carry all this myself, do you?"

"Come on," Elfman said as he shoved Bickslow forward with so much force he nearly hit the cobbled floor, only able to catch his balance with the help of his babies flying in front of him so he didn't fall. "A real man helps a lady when they ask for it."

He grumbled a bit, still not seeing why he had to do this, but snatched up the bags, the babies balancing a couple up themselves. This woman was developing a serious shopping habit it looked like. Usually even she didn't blow this much money.

Maybe she just enjoyed making men carry around her crap.

"I'm surprised you didn't have Elfman help you with this," he said as they walked to Fairy Hills. "Wouldn't you have preferred his company? You did spend all night with him after all."

"After what you've been pulling, is really in your best interest to be poking fun of me for my romantic inclinations?" she asked him mildly.

"What are you talking about?" he asked in honest confusion.

"How long have you been sleeping with Lisanna?"

The question shocked him so badly he stopped short and dropped her bags right in the middle of the street.

"Bickslow! Careful!" she scolded him angrily. "Those are valuable!"

"How do you know about that?" he demanded. Fuck, he thought he'd been so sure of Lisanna and he being safe. How the hell had she found out?

"Honestly?" she asked him with a smirk. "You just told me."

Realizing he'd been tricked angered him, but his confusion and shock was still too much for the whole matter to really act on it.

"You… you..." he hissed, actually at a loss for what to say for once but Evergreen just snickered.

"Calm down," she said as she stooped down to pick up her bags and place them back in his hands. "It's not like I'm going to go around and tell anyone. I'm just curious. I actually had my suspicions already, but you confirmed them just now. I would have found it all out on my own eventually anyway. After all, no one would ever look at you and think subtle."

"Well then, how did you figure it out enough to be suspicious in the first place?" he asked as he started following after her again.

"How? How?"

"It wasn't that hard, considering how well we know each other, you know," she said. "The first thing that tipped me off was the fact you actually agreed to give her lessons on magic. As long as I've known you, you've never had the slightest inclination to teach anyone your craft. Why start now?"

"It was her idea," Bickslow admitted. "I thought it was a good idea for a cover story so I went along with it. I'm not going to teach her anything too complicated or dangerous."

"Still, the fact you were willing to at all struck me as odd. It got my attention," she said. "Especially since you two have never been close beforehand. I figured either she had somehow charmed you into doing it, not hard to imagine given what a little cream puff sweat heart she is and how much you like childish and innocent things, or that it was some kind of cover. For what, I couldn't imagine until I saw you two last night."

"You saw us?" he asked. "Where?"

"At the restaurant," she pointed out. "You didn't think I wouldn't see you there? Honestly?"

"We got there hours after you had been," he justified.

"I'd forgotten my purse," she explained. "Honestly, you couldn't have been more careful?"

He groaned a bit, feeling like an idiot. Really? That had been it? Just a bit of bad luck and his own stupidity had gotten them caught? True, Evergreen had thought something odd of his willingness to give lessons but that wouldn't have led to anything if he'd been more careful. Not only had they been seen, he'd been taken off guard so easily by her sudden question he'd essentially confirmed to her that something was going on.

"Okay, fine. You got me," he groaned. "What are you going to do now? Tell that gorilla of her brother?"

To his surprise, she laughed, seemingly amused by the idea.

"Bickslow, why in the world would I do that?" she asked him before shaking her head. "After I saw you two, the first thing I did was drag him off for hours to go shopping to keep him occupied so he wouldn't get back early and see his darling sister was gone."

"Same reason why you coaxed him into your hotel room?" he asked.

She turned red at that, glaring dagger at him, but he only grinned at her. In his mind, she deserved the slight teasing. After all, she was effectively sticking her nose into his business, though he did feel enough gratitude she'd done her best to keep Elfman off their backs in order to have a nice night together. It kept him from pushing her any further on it.

"I do believe we're discussing you here," she pointed out.

"Okay, fine. We're sleeping together," he admitted. "So what?"

"Well, how did it start?" she pressed but he only looked away in determination. He didn't have to share a damn thing with her. Why should he? "Oh, come on. You owe me."

"I'm pretty sure you just needed an excuse to keep him occupied anyway," he replied. "And you did that of your own free will. It had nothing to do with me."

"I'm not telling anyone, am I?" she asked him and he shut his eyes tight. Evergreen and he were good friends, but their relationship was easily the most turbulent of the four of them. He teased her a lot and she hated to feel like she wasn't on top of any situation, which only made him want to tease her all the more. He loved her when she was flustered and she never stopped getting irritated or angry over it, which only made it all the funnier to him. While he did trust her enough not to say anything when she had already said she wouldn't, and he was honestly surprised she wasn't beating the crap out of him for messing around with Lisanna, he could still hear that little unspoken threat in her words.

She wasn't saying anything now, but that didn't mean it wouldn't change if she didn't get what she wanted. Well, she already was aware of what was going on already. Would it really hurt to indulge her need or gossip?

"You have to promise not to tell anyone," Bickslow said to her. "No one, you got it?"

"Alright. I promise, not a soul will hear it from my lips," she promised him.

They'd already reached Fairy Hills by this point and when she opened the door for them, he stopped.

"I'll tell you another time," he said as he eyed the doors like they were trapped to kill him the second he passed the threshold. "If I go in there, Erza will kill me."

"Hmph. I'm more than enough to handle her," Evergreen snorted.

"Oh really?" he asked with a snort. "Since when?"

"Since when? Since when?" his babies inquired.

"All of you shut up and come on!" she snapped before she stomped inside. Bickslow couldn't help but think it was rather unfairylike at how much noise she was making but just followed after her, glancing around occasionally to see if he'd be caught. Men weren't allowed in here after all, and he knew how much that violent redhead loved to enforce rules and give out punishments. Luckily he found himself in her room without any trouble and she grabbed her bags from him, spilling them over the bed to start sorting and putting her new things away. He noticed it was mostly clothing and jewelry, and she cooed happily over every piece as she moved around the room to find them spots in her closet and on her vanity.

"So, what do you want to know?" he asked as he moved to sit down at her table. He poked at the tea set on the furniture and wondered if he could convince her to bring him some coffee for his trouble. His headache from before was starting to inch back, like an irritated spider scuttling close enough to pounce on its victim. Wait, did spiders scuttle? Somehow that didn't seem to fit. "Ever, do spiders scuttle?"

She turned suddenly to look at him as if he'd grown two heads, but he only met it with a curious look of his own.

"I… What?" she asked him before removing her glasses long enough to rub at her eyes and sigh before she slipped them back on. "No, never mind. I don't think I want to know."

"If you didn't want to know anything then why did you drag me here?"

"Yeah. We're busy!" his dolls exclaimed.

"That's not what I meant and you know it. Besides, busy with what?" she asked them with her hands on his hips.

"Exhibitionist Lisanna!" they proclaimed happily.

That seemed to have gotten her interest as she looked to him for an explanation and he actually felt a little hot under the collar. They'd never let him live that down, would they?

"Maybe you'd better start from the beginning," she said as she sat down across from him. "How did this even happen and how long has it been going on?"

"Not that long," he admitted. "Little over a month now. It was almost right after Tenrou Island. I was at the guild after hours, just… well, just being by myself. I had a lot to think about and she showed up by herself to get some stuff from the guild for her family. Food for dinner. Nothing important. We got to talking and had some drinks-"

"Oh god, Bickslow," Ever cut him off. "Really? There's booze involved? You realize no story that starts with alcohol ends well, right?"

"We weren't drunk," he denied immediately.

"Not drunk! Not drunk!" his babies agreed.

"As if you five know what being drunk is like," she hissed at them before leveling Bickslow with an even stare. Even with the glasses on her face, Bickslow found himself wondering if he'd end up turning to stone if he gave the wrong answer. Ah yes, this was the reaction he'd been expecting, as if he'd taken advantage of Lisanna's virtue and someone wanted revenge.

"Enough to probably lower my inebriation, which helped my actions, not enough to say they were the cause," he admitted to her. "I'd had maybe five or six shots. She'd had two. She wasn't drunk, and I wasn't either."

"Well, that's something at least. So if it wasn't the alcohol, what was it?"

"I don't know exactly," he confessed. "I mean, I know what happened, but I don't know what caused it all to click together in my mind so suddenly. She was upset, and trying so hard not to show it. I wanted to make her feel better, wanted to help a bit, so I told her she could cry if she needed to, that I wouldn't be offended or put off by it. She just started sobbing and confessing how hard this was on her. She's lost a lot and I felt bad for her. Then… I don't know how to put it. I just looked at her, and I had her in my arms and… she looked so beautiful to me. All of a sudden I didn't see a little kid, not like I used to. I saw her as an adult, as a woman, and a beautiful woman at that. So I just suddenly kissed her."

He rubbed at the back of his neck, feeling a bit awkward at saying such soft things. He really wished he could crack a joke right now, but nothing was honestly coming to mind. Luckily, he knew Ever wouldn't judge him for it and true enough, she just sat there and patiently listened to him and waited for the story to continue.

"Well, I knew I had screwed up immediately. I was ready for her to run off and scream bloody murder, and instead she started to kiss me. I wasn't thinking at all, and I just went with it. One thing led to another and we-"

"Please, please tell me you did not screw in the guild hall," she said, looking a little like her name sake as she went green at the thought. "Bickslow, I eat there!"

"No, we did not fuck in the guild," he said back. Not technically anyway. "We fooled around, that's it. My pants didn't even come off."

"Oh, thank goodness."

"Anyway," he said, happy to get past that part. He didn't feel like sharing the details of that intimate moment and she didn't look like she wanted to hear them anyway. "After that I tried to avoid her. I wanted to just forget it had happened and put it behind me. She didn't have the same idea."

"Oh? How so?" she asked.

"Lisanna wanted to sleep with me," he explained. "Casually."

"Lisanna?"

"Yeah."

"She wanted to sleep with you?"

"Don't look so shocked."

"And she was fine with it being just sex? Really?"

"It's not like I forced her into it, you know," he said with a bit of irritation. It was hypocritical of him and he knew that. After all, he'd been just as shocked that the girl would be into such an arrangement back then but now that he saw her as much as an adult as she desperately wanted to be, he couldn't help but get annoyed on her behalf at the idea she wasn't capable of having such thoughts. "Yes, it was her idea. So what?"

"I just… I never would have thought. Here I had figured you had somehow convinced her to go off with you to be ravaged or something," she admitted.

"Ever, come on."

"Well, you have to admit it's a lot more likely than the alternative!" she snapped at him.

"Guess not because that's how it happened."

"Oh fine. I believe you," she said as she ran a hand through her hair and sighed again. "I just can't picture it, but if it had been your idea I know right now you'd be bragging your head off about it. No way would you admit to the fact she was the one to seduce you."

"Actually, I find the fact she seduced me pretty hot," he replied with a smirk. "She just had to have the B-man."

"Don't you ever call yourself that again," she muttered. "So then, that's it? She asked you to sleep with her and you just said yes? Nothing else to it?"

"Pretty much," he admitted. "It's not like there's been much time for other developments, and really, it's just sex. Heck, we even agreed to sleep with other people if we wanted to. It's as casual as can be. Aside from sex and the hanging out we did last night, there isn't really that much else to say about it. Aside of course from the fact it's a total secret."

"You should be more careful with your secrets then. You were pretty easy to catch and get the truth out of," she pointed out.

"That was just an accident."

"Yeah, but it could have been worse. If Elfman had come in with me to get my purse he would have destroyed half that place in order to get to you and beat you to a pulp."

"I would have just told him we were discussing magic."

"Yes, and I'm sure his typical rage over the top protection of his little sister would have been totally absent long enough for him to listen to your lies," she giggled. "Face it, you're lucky that I was the one who saw and that I kept him so busy afterward."

"Yeah, yeah. I guess you do have a point," he conceded. While he did consider himself much stronger than the manly man when it came to magic, he wasn't the huge amount of muscles that guy was. No doubt however it went down, Bickslow would not walk away from such a fight without a scratch. "I guess I sort of got carried away. I figured we were safe to do whatever we wanted in another town."

"To be fair, all I saw was you having dinner," she admitted. "It's not like you were having your wicked way with her in an alleyway."

"That actually had been pretty tempting," he snickered. After the way she'd danced, he'd have been more than happy to drag her off for one more round before getting her safely back to her room, but it would have been way too risky for either of them to have been comfortable with.

"Save your fantasies," she said, her nose wrinkled in disgust as if she knew what he was thinking. "What are you going to do about this?"

"What do you mean? Keep going of course," he replied. "We're both having fun. I'll just make sure we're more careful from now on. No one else is the wiser and if you don't say anything, we're still in the clear."

"That's not what I meant," she stated. "Bickslow, she's from our guild. A guild which, I will admit, recently I've become very happy in and comfortable with. We're finally letting ourselves belong here. Once Laxus comes back, I want that to continue and just get better."

"You're not telling me to end it, are you? Just because we're both in Fairy Tail?"

"No, but you both have a chance of being hurt if it goes badly and it will be impossible to avoid her," Ever said. "I'm not telling you to stop, because frankly I don't care less if you sleep around with half of Magnolia and if she wasn't interested she clearly wouldn't be allowing you to touch her. However, she is very special to everyone here, and this is her first time with anyone. It's easy to get emotional over that kind of thing. Who's to say it will stay as just sex? It's hard to make that work."

"Evergreen, I appreciate the concern, but don't bother," he snorted. "It's not like we have feelings for one another. She herself said there was no love involved, and why should there be?"

"And you're content to let it just be physical then?" she asked him.

"Why wouldn't I be? I've slept with plenty of girls before."

"One night stands are not the same as someone sticking around, and casual sex doesn't last forever. We both know how how much it hurts you to have to let go of someone. Just remember what happened back at the circus."

He didn't react to that, not immediately. For a second he wanted to say something, to refute her claims, but she was right about him and they both knew it. He didn't like to let people go, and he was already getting dangerously possessive of Lisanna. Yes, he didn't bother her or try to steal her away her time from her friends and family, but he wanted to. He wanted to keep her to himself, and he was already jealous of the man she was in love with.

"I know I can't have her," he said eventually. "Besides, what happened back then doesn't have anything to do with Lisanna and I having fun together."

"True, but you have gone to extremes before to keep people you care about," she said as she glanced up at the dolls for a moment before sighing. "Well, if you say that you're fine, then I'm not going to push. I'm just concerned."

"Thanks, but I'm not some dumb teenager anymore. I can handle myself," he said as he got up and went over to the door. "Now I better get going before Erza catches me and uses me as her new practice dummy."

"Bickslow," she called after him.

"What?"

"Does she make you happy?"

He paused before he actually felt himself smiling a little bit. Maybe he was walking a dangerous tightrope but that at the very least he was comfortable with admitting.

"Yeah, she does."

"Then I hope for your sake she doesn't break your heart," she said sincerely. "Also that you don't do anything stupid."

He didn't say it, but he agreed with her sentiment.

End of Chapter 10

I figured this point would be a good part for someone to figure out what was going on, and I really enjoy Evergreen so I thought why not? She's a bit of a snooty woman but you can tell under all of that she really cares for her teammates. Originally I'd considered Freed, but I thought she would be much more frank in bringing it up to Bickslow while Freed is probably too polite to probe too deeply where he's not really wanted. Also, it was nice to show her concern for Bickslow even as he irritates her, something I think isn't shown enough in the anime, only sprinkled in here and there.

If you enjoyed it, please review. I'm always curious to hear opinions on my work.


	11. Chapter 11

I want to say thank you to everyone for being so supportive about the delay in the story. I have good news and bad new. The good news is more hires have happened so we're not so swamped now. The bad new is I also have a different second job starting Saturday. It going to take up more time but I'll be making much more money which will help with my bills. It's going to make updating hard, but I swear to write one page a day at least, hopefully more. This should put the updating back to about once a week. Not wonderful, but it's the best I can do and keep this story alive. Sorry. I promise I won't give it up though, not until it's finished with a great ending.

That all being said, please enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 11: In Which Confessions are Made

It was late at night when Bickslow finally let himself get to bed. He'd spent most of the day getting his things put back in order after his long trip, getting some of his bills paid and then working on his babies' bodies. None of them were in bad condition, but a few cracks and chipped paint had needed to be taken care of. Throughout the whole time, he spent most of it thinking about Lisanna. He wasn't sure how to handle the new development. He was sure Evergreen would keep her word and not say anything about it, as long as he didn't do anything too bad to piss her off. She could easily blurt it out during an argument or the like, since she was pretty emotional but she wouldn't go and tell everyone to be malicious. As long as he didn't goad her, it'd be alright.

Honestly, he couldn't be mad about it. He had been the one to get them caught, admitting fully to everything. If anything came from this it would be his own fault.

Still, as he hit the bed with a groan, he couldn't help but wonder how this was all going to go down. He cared a lot about Lisanna, not something he thought would have happened. He didn't want to be the cause of any drama for her. If people did find out, it wouldn't work out well for her. People seemed to think of him as a bit of a pervert anyway, but he blamed that on the fact so few men in the guild actually had the guts to go after girls they liked for some reason. A guy fully comfortable with fucking any girl he liked must have looked bad in comparison. What reputation did he have to worry about if their fling came to light? Oh yeah, it would mean a world of pain by getting the shit kicked out of him by just about everyone for 'tainting' little virginal Lisanna, but really it would be her that would be worse off.

Bickslow could see everyone feeling bad for her, trying to comfort her as if something bad had happened to her, or he'd gone and forced her into it. Everyone still saw her as a piece of glass, something that really bugged her and he found kind of bugged him too now. She was a grown up, perfectly capable of making her own choices and she'd chosen him.

Would anyone accept that though? Somehow he doubted it. He didn't think anyone she chose would have been good enough for everyone else to accept. Except maybe Natsu but only because they'd been somewhat of an item for so long and he was too stupid to know what to do with a woman anyway.

Had he always thought so poorly of that kid before? He couldn't help but think he'd gotten kind of venomous in his thoughts towards the kid lately, especially when it concerned his abilities concerning romance and sex. Not that the little punk could do anything. He'd probably just go and get something to eat and ignore Lisanna if she were to suggest sex to him. Even if he did have the brains to do it, he'd probably be awful. Bickslow knew how to please a woman, knew all the little places she liked to be touched already, how she shivered when he traced his fingers over her skin just the right way, how she moaned when he moved inside of her. She'd sung his praises for his tongue enough to know the brat couldn't ever hope to compare, could never hope to get as deep inside of her with such oral worship.

Yet Natsu was the one she was in love with. They'd spent their childhood's together. She adored him and his dorky, immature nature. Really, when he thought about it, he might have potentially ruined sex for them if they ever did hook up. Natsu had no idea what to do with a woman and Lisanna was starting to develop a very healthy appetite. She knew what she liked and what to expect from a partner. No way would the dragon be able to deliver without a whole lot of coaxing and practice. He was about five years too early for sex. He couldn't handle Lisanna the way she needed. If she were still a virgin, they would have been fine. They could have learned together. Now they'd never have that.

Then again, who knew? Maybe she'd enjoy teaching Natsu like he himself enjoyed teaching her. Maybe it would be for the best. If their relationship ever did get out, he'd probably have to put an end to it then. No way would it be able to continue afterward after all. No one would allow him to get even five seconds alone with her, even if she did insist she was old enough to do as she liked. It would be better in the long run for her to go to Natsu, to be with a guy the guild wouldn't mind.

Still, he knew deep down the dragon would never be able to compare. He wouldn't be as good, couldn't pleasure Lisanna the way he was able to. Right now, Bickslow was the only one who could make her moan in just the right way, could make her sweat and squirm in the sheets.

He could see it in his mind, the way her naked body shimmered in the faint light as he laid over her, her mouth forming a cute little o just as he entered her, how she'd reach out for him and cling to his body as they kissed. She was so fucking sexy, she deserved a man who cared enough about her to see to her needs. Really, it was only to be fair to her. As far as he knew Natsu couldn't even say he liked her back, but Bickslow could give her so much more. He'd pinned her to the wall and fucked her within an inch of her sanity and she'd still craved more. Just like on the dance floor, so sensual and hot, moving perfectly in tune with his body.

Bickslow groaned a bit at the thoughts, his member starting to get hot at the thought. Reaching over his boxers, he touched himself and imaged it was her dainty yet strong fingers playing with him through the thin material. He snapped the band against his skin and saw her grinning face as if she was teasing him before pulling them down just far enough to free his half hard cock.

"Fuck… Lisanna, fuck..." he hissed, starting to move his hand up and down the length slowly. It wasn't her and it wasn't real, but if he closed his eyes tight enough, imagined hard enough, he could see her above him. "Yes, like that. Touch me like that..."

He heard a little tapping of glass, but he ignored it at first, too wrapped up in his fantasy. He didn't want anything to interrupt it. When it got a little louder, he groaned and glanced over at the window to see a bird in the moonlight, tapping at the pane of glass. He ignored it and continued before it began hitting the glass so hard it was impossible to think about what he was doing at all.

Oh, that bird was so dead.

He tucked himself back in and went over to open the window and shoo it away before he stopped and really looked at it. A tiny thing with almost greenish feathers that had a pink tint, he didn't think he'd ever seen a species with that coloring before, except for one exception. His suspicions were even stronger from the crop of white feathers on top that looked oddly like a pixie cut.

"Lisanna? Is that you?" he asked to which the bird quickly flapped its wings excitedly. He quickly opened the window and the bird flew in before a puff of smoke erupted in his face. He didn't find himself minding though because literally a second later a healthy shaped girl was in his arms, kissing him deeply on the mouth.

"I missed you," she groaned as she rubbed her hip into him, making him groan. Shit, she'd been watching him. Of course she knew he was hard. "I can see you missed me too."

"Fuck, you little minx. Why didn't you ever do that before?" he groaned, wasting no time to pull her into his bed.

"Didn't know if it was allowed," she explained. She was only in shorts and a t-shirt, floppy enough to see no bra on underneath. "I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd see if you were awake."

"And if I hadn't been?"

"I'd have gone home and touched myself in a huge fit of disappointment," she replied cheekily.

"Oh, now no need for that. Just wake me up," he informed her before he licked up her throat, making her sigh happily. "Shit, I needed you so badly. Really, you have no idea."

"You keep saying that," she giggled as she wrapped her legs around him.

"Well, it keeps being true," he stated as he rubbed against her. It still felt so good even with the thin layers of clothing between them, how hard his cock twitched as he nestled against her underwear and felt her hot core pressed against him. "Seriously, babe. I aint just flattering you."

"Mmmm. Bickslow," she mewled out. "You really know how to make a girl feel appreciated, flattery or not."

"I aim to please," he hissed right in her ear. "Just need to know how much pleasure you need from me."

"All of it," she begged. "Give me all of it."

He had to be gentle and slow, since it was late at night and everyone was asleep or at the very least in their rooms. They couldn't risk being heard. Still, even though it wasn't their harshest fucking ever, he still loved it. He took the excuse to keep her quite to kiss her most of the time, muffling her sound and tasting her yielding mouth at the same time. By the time he was done with her, she was a panting shivering mess naked in his bed and curled up next to him with a huge grin on her face.

"I know I should probably go back, but I'm way too tired now," she stated, nuzzling into his chest. "Think anyone would notice if I stayed the night and just said I came by really early to see you?"

He almost said she should, but paused suddenly before the words could come out. No, that was the kind of risk taking that had gotten them in trouble just this morning.

"You should head home," he said, rolling over to grab his underwear. "Take the window, will you?"

"Huh? What got into you?"

"Nothing," he said, but the word came out too sudden and harsh to sound genuine. Suddenly he was just irritated. He wanted her to stay, he really did, but they'd surely get caught if they got complacent or stupid about this. He'd much prefer her to be with him for the night and cuddle, maybe have breakfast together and enjoy another bout of sex before walking her home, giving her a kiss at the door and starting the day out right.

It wouldn't go that way though. Instead Elfman or Mirajane would bend him into a pretzel and warn him away from Lisanna forever.

"I… I guess I'd better go then. If you don't want me here," she said, her tone suddenly stiff. He turned around to explain but her back was to him and she suddenly didn't look to receptive. "You could have just said so from the beginning if I was bothering you."

"You weren't a bother," he muttered. It was the rest of the situation that was bothering him.

"Could have fooled me," she said, tugging her clothes on. "Course, I guess cuddling after fucking isn't the style for Mr. Sexpot. Got another girl waiting her turn in the hall you need to get rid of me for?"

He grabbed her so suddenly he wasn't even aware he'd moved until his hands were gripping her arms tight as he glared at her.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" he hissed.

Even in the dark, he could see she was giving him just as harsh a look. The expression she wore would have made lesser men crumble but he was suddenly too pissed off to even give it a second thought.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe the whole thing with you clearly wanting to sleep with other girls while getting jealous like a jerk at the idea I'd been with someone else, and now you're kicking me out of your room. Here I'd thought you were touching yourself over me, but guess that was dumb. Prepping yourself for some other chick?" she snapped at him.

"Who the fuck would I have in my room besides you?" he asked in anger. "And even if I did, it's none of your business."

"Of course it's not. You just go and fuck whoever you want while pulling your double standards on me," she hissed. "At least I had the common decency to tell you such a thing bothered me. You're just an ass!"

"I'm the ass? I'm the one busting my butt off trying to keep us from getting caught and you're getting jealous of some woman that doesn't even exist! Fuck Lisanna, you're the only person I slept with since this started because you're all I can think about, damn it!"

The surprise was clear on her face at his words, and he wondered if he'd gone too far. He really hadn't meant to admit so much, but it was out in the open now.

"I… uh… that is..." he said softly, feeling his neck and cheeks get a bit hot.

"I… I think we should back up a bit here," she said, just as pink as he was sure he was. "Why don't we… uh, focus on the getting caught thing first. Did something happen?"

"Yes," he admitted, kind of glad she'd gone for that first. Easier to explain and it would give him some time to think his way out of the second statement he'd made. "Ever saw us when we were having dinner. It's why she drug me back to her place, to explain what was going on."

"Wait, you told her?"

"She sort of tricked it out of me," he explained. "Sorry."

"Oh," she replied softly. "Is that why you didn't want me over here? Do you want to end it now that she knows?"

"I don't want to end this," he quickly said.

"You're acting like you do. I know I jumped you. If I'd-"

"Lisanna, I want you to stay," he insisted. "It's just if you do that's going to raise questions and I just think we should be more careful because we can't risk anyone else finding out. I swear, I don't like it anymore than you do. We've just got to be careful."

"So then… she really knows about us?" she asked softly.

"Yeah. Sad to say she does."

"Is she going to tell anyone?"

"She said she won't. I trust her, but I won't expect you to if you don't wanna," he assured her.

Lisanna paused for a second, chewing on her bottom lip and looking apprehensive.

"I guess I can trust her. I hope she doesn't say anything, at least for your sake," she sighed. "Sorry I suddenly got so mad."

"Nah. I was the one getting all pissy instead of telling you," he said. He was acting like a kid who couldn't have his favorite toy and it was hardly fair to her. "If you want to stay, then stay. I'll set the alarm for early so you can just fly home then, maybe a bit before sunrise. How's that?"

"No, that's okay. I don't want to make you take risks just for me," she sighed before glancing away. "I'm acting spoiled here. I just wanted to..."

"You were feeling horny. I get it."

"I was going to say I wanted to see you," she corrected.

Her words caught him a bit off guard and he wasn't sure how to react. Something seemed to be laying under those words, something a bit deeper but what? He almost wanted to ask but wasn't sure exactly how to.

"I think I'd better go," she whispered but he didn't remove his hands from her. "Bickslow… I have to go."

"Don't," he found himself whispering before leaning in to kiss her softly, over and over. "Don't leave."

"But Bickslow..."

"Stay. Please stay," he said, working his hands up and down her shoulders as he continued to press his lips over hers. "Lisanna, I don't want you to leave. I need you."

"You… you keep saying that..." she repeated breathlessly. "Why do you keep telling me that?"

"Because I do."

"I… god, Bickslow. I need you too," Lisanna mewled as she hugged him close. "I know this is just sex, but you make me feel so good, so comfortable in my own skin again. I've been nothing but awkward since I came back. You're the only one I can be myself around. I don't want to go."

"Then don't," he breathed. "I don't want anyone else to be with you, just me, and I don't want to be with anyone but you."

"So that open relationship thing?" she asked him.

"Fucking forget it," he groaned before pushing her back to the bed with him. She didn't fight it, instead giggling happily as she pressed up against him. He didn't even sleep with her again, just cuddling against her body and holding her close.

Was it stupid? Yes. Should he have been strong and sent her back? Yes. Would he no doubt have to sneak her out and cause them both a bunch of anxiety in the morning if anyone discovered she'd spent the night in his room? Yes.

Did that mean he'd send her away? No way in hell.

He'd just have to accept it. He was addicted to her, and it was an addiction he didn't want to quit. If staying away from her was the way to be safe, fuck it. He wasn't changing this. He'd fake lessons, pull her away any second he could, kiss her breathless while no one was looking and fulfill every moment he could with her.

After all, Bickslow knew without a doubt he'd have to let her go eventually. Someday she'd move on and have Natsu or someone else. Someone to love and he'd fade away to some good memory and fellow guild mate. Until then though, he wanted every possible moment he could have with her.

"When you need me to, I'll let go," he promised softly into her hair as she slept. "I won't make you stay… I won't make that mistake in my life again."

Lisanna only purred a bit in her sleep and didn't hear his promise, but he felt it was good enough for now.

End of Chapter 11

A bit short. Hope that's okay. I didn't mean for that to happen but there wasn't much to cover in this chapter. I thought about dragging their fight out a bit, but I'm trying to write these two as pretty honest with one another and level headed. Even if they're not being completely open about all their feelings like the jealousy, they're still saying enough that mostly they understand one another pretty well. I felt it was enough to show the stress of the secret and whole, "Let's sleep with other people even though we're clearly not okay with that" bit without going overboard and making them really go at it.

Also, now they don't have to even worry over that! Woohoo! Progress in their relationship!


	12. Chapter 12

Well, I figured there had been enough sexy times, so I decided to move on with the plot. I had to rewatch some episodes for this chapter, but it might deviate from the plot of the show a little bit.

As always, Fairy Tail does not belong to me. This story is entirely for fun and nothing else. However if you do enjoy this story, a review to let me know your thoughts is always welcomed.

Chapter 12: In Which Family Should be Together

As much as Lisanna wished it wouldn't, time passed without her consent. Things very rarely stayed the same for too long anymore, a fact of life she'd long since had to get used to. Despite her affair with Bickslow, life went on, things stayed busy, and she had other things she had to focus on. After all, she wasn't going to make much money cuddled up with him in seclusion somewhere, making out and playing with his babies. If only life were that easy on her.

Still, she couldn't complain. Ever since their argument that had forced them both to come clean about their jealousy, there wasn't a single problem she could think of between them. He was sweet to her and the time they were allowed together was great. He'd even taken to teaching her some of his magic for real, not that she seemed to get most of it. From what he told her, Seith Magic was mostly inherited in bloodlines and while it was possible to learn a few simple ways to manipulate souls, she'd never be the master at it that he was. His lectures were usually pretty complicated anyway and so far she wasn't seeing much of a result.

Then again, half way through his lectures they usually both ended up kissing throughout the rest of their time together while his babies whistled at them and cat called.

Honestly, it was just as well. She liked her own brand of magic just fine, and any time she got to spend with him was good. While yes, they usually just used it as an excuse to get physical, she couldn't deny just being around him was nice. Lisanna was not sure just when it had gone from being sex to this odd sort of friendship that had developed between them, but it honestly meant something to her. Bickslow had become special to her. It was… well, nice.

Even Evergreen wasn't giving her a reason to worry. Besides a couple knowing looks whenever Lisanna and Bickslow went off together in order to spend time alone, she hadn't really done anything. It seemed Bickslow had been right to trust their secret to her. It seemed she was even going out of her way to distract Elfman for them, though Lisanna was sure that was more for Evergreen's benefit than their own. It certainly made Lisanna feel grateful though, knowing their business would remain private.

Through it all too, the world kept on spinning. There were still jobs to do and work to be had and their time together still didn't seem to expand by that much, even with their excuse of working on her magic. Probably for the best too, seeing as she had other things going on around her that needed her attention. Natsu and Lucy seemed to be getting on okay, but it seemed to Lisanna there was a bit of tension around them. They seemed to get along great one second and then start yelling at each other the next. It only seemed to be getting worse too, and Lisanna had already wondered a couple times if she should try to offer some advice to help smooth things over. After all, it couldn't be healthy for them to get into fights that often and she didn't want to see two of her best friends get on like this. While it wasn't really her business, she wanted the best for those two and she couldn't help but wonder if maybe getting them to express their feelings a little more physically might help them out a bit.

At least, until Lucy's relative showed up. Lisanna wasn't sure what to think about her. Michelle Lobster was a nice enough girl, and when she'd started to work at the guild she worked hard even if she seemed to break more dishes than what her wages were worth. She was kind enough but… well, Lisanna wasn't sure. Something just seemed off about the whole situation, especially with some memento that had been left for Lucy from her father. Lisanna herself didn't know much about Lucy's parents since the girl very rarely talked about him but apparently things had been pretty strained for them. It all seemed kind of strange. Still, having Michelle around seemed to give Lucy something to focus on besides just worrying about restoring the guild or Natsu, so it was okay. Fairy Tail was important to everyone, but you had to have things for yourself too.

She supposed it just went to show that no matter what, life went on. Nothing could really stay the same forever, as much as she would have liked it to.

It was probably why she had taken the day to go off into the forest. She needed some time to think and reground herself. In reality, if she could have her way it would all be back to the way it was, everyone at the old guild, happy and content. If only they hadn't been trapped on Tenrou for so long. Then again, if it hadn't happened, would she have ever ended up with Bickslow?

Probably not, and if she were being honest she wasn't sure she wanted to exchange him for anything.

"I guess it's not really possible to have it both ways," she admitted as she went down the path. "As much as I talk about wanting be seen as mature, I guess I still have a long ways to go. God, I feel like I'm acting so spoiled right now."

Her musing was broken though by the sound of the brush nearby moving. Curious if someone else was out here, she went to go investigate when the bushes moved to the side and a large creature stepped up. She found herself staring up at a large Gorian towering right over her. At seeing her, the creature grinned lecherously.

"Why hello there, woman," it purred as she grimaced and backed up a bit away from it. "I was just thinking about Fairy Tail and how I'd like to get back at them. Seems perfect timing to see you here."

"Oh gross," she said. "Look, I didn't come out here for this. Get lost."

The forest vulcan only sniggered at her, seeming to find her reaction amusing.

"Why don't you make me?" he asked before he reached for her. She snarled and in a flash of light she was in her cat form. The Gorian didn't even know what was happening before she jumped at him, scratching his face all over until it fell over in the bushes.

"To think there was a time when I was a kid and you actually scared me," she muttered as she changed back. "Seriously, I came out here to think and you're gonna bug me? I'm miles ahead of you now."

"I'd say. To think I actually thought about stepping in to save you for a second," a gruff voice said behind her. She turned around, surprised someone had been able to sneak up on her so easily only to see Laxus of all people standing there, hands in his pockets. "Seems you have gotten stronger. Who'd have thought?"

"L-Laxus!" she cried out in surprise. "What are you doing here?! Have you been here the whole time?"

"Yeah. I was about to step in, but it seems you handled yourself just fine," he noted.

"That's not what I meant," she said, shaking her head. "I mean, you've been in the forest since we got back from Tenrou Island? Have you been near Magnolia ever since?"

He didn't quite look at her when he shrugged his shoulders.

"Nah. I've been getting around for training mostly. It was just a coincidence we bumped into each other," he stated, though somehow she didn't quite believe him.

"Right," she replied. "Well, then what are you doing here?"

"Like I said, training," he informed her. "Anyway, you seem fine so I'm going to head back out."

"What?" she asked as he started to walk away. "Hey! Wait up! Don't leave again!"

She rushed after him, having to hurry to keep up with his long stride. Oh, yeah right. Like she was just going to let him walk off after not seeing him in so long.

"Don't you have anything better to do, kid?" he asked when he noticed her right next to him.

"Don't talk like that," Lisanna replied. "Come on, no one has seen you since we got back from the island. Everyone is going to be so excited to know you're still here."

"Can't say I see that as being true. You did hear about all the problems I caused, right?"

"Right, like anyone really cares about that anymore," she shot back. "At the very least Bickslow, Evergreen and Freed would want to know you're okay."

He stopped at that and turned to face her, peering at her closely. She actually blushed a bit when he leaned in so close and actually sniffed her for a second.

"I was wondering what that smell hanging around you was," he noted.

"Huh?"

"Listen, my camp isn't too far from here. Why don't you come over and we can have a chat?" he offered.

"W-what?" she asked. That was a sudden change in attitude. What the heck was going on?

"Don't you want to? You seemed pretty eager to talk just a second ago," he stated. She could only nod, dumbfounded at his offer. "Good. Come on, I'll make you some tea or something."

She could only follow along at the underbrush, wondering why he was being so welcoming now. It seemed he'd been just as happy to walk away a second ago. What had caused the sudden change? It actually felt a little surreal as they arrived at his camp, a modest little tent and small bedroll laid out next to a circle of stones with some dead and splintered wood. It only took a snap of his fingers and a small bolt of lightning for the wood to catch with a spark and a fire to start.

"Sit, sit," he said as he gently pushed her to the ground. She was honestly too confused to do anything but as he instructed and watched him pull a pack out of his tent and begin rummaging through it. "You still like lemon tea, right? I can't remember."

"Uh, lemon is fine," she said. Since when had he been nice enough to offer to make anyone anything? Lisanna couldn't even remember him doing anything like that when she'd been a kid.

"Good. It's all I have besides coffee," he admitted as he got the kettle ready and put it over the fire. "Do you even drink coffee? That stuff is probably too much for a girl your age."

She puffed her cheeks out in irritation.

"Are you teasing me on purpose?" she asked him, to which he smirked a bit.

"Maybe a bit. If you're old enough for things like a boyfriend, you must be old enough for coffee," he stated, causing her eyes to bug out in surprise. "You know, I guess I should give my blessing to you two. First Ever and Elfman, now you and Bickslow. Strange how relationships keep popping up between my bozos and your family."

"W-what?!" she cried out. "No! No, you got it all wrong! What makes you even think Bickslow and I are… Damn it! How's everyone keep figuring us out?!"

"Bickslow's scent. You smell a lot like him now," he pointed out, causing her cheeks to get as hot as a skillet in the span of only a couple seconds. "I couldn't quite place it at first until you mentioned him."

"We've been spending a lot of time together," she explained. "I mean, yeah we have been sleeping together but it's not… a… a relationship."

"What?" he growled out.

"It's just, you know, healthy fun. Nothing complicated," she said, trying to sound casual but felt a bit worried when he looked so irritated. "Is something wrong?"

"He's not disrespecting you, is he?" he asked.

"What? No, no of course not. Look, it's completely… Hey! Why am I explaining this to you? It's not any of your business!" she exclaimed suddenly, clenching her fists. "Besides, we were talking about how everyone misses you. The whole Thunder Legion would be ecstatic to know that you're okay."

"Eh, tell them I'm fine if you want," he replied. "Still, you and Bickslow. How the heck did that happen?"

"Didn't you hear the part where I said it wasn't any of your business?" she sighed. Was this what Bickslow had gone through with Evergreen? Why were people so nosy about the two of them? "We just sort of fell into it. He was nice to me when I was going through a tough moment and it just sort of happened. Neither of us are seeing anyone else at the moment, so we decided to give it a shot."

Not exactly the full truth, but she figured he'd like a summary like that better than the version of Bickslow bending her over the bar and getting her addicted to sex with him.

"Then he's treating you alright?" Laxus asked.

"Like a total gentleman," she assured.

"Huh. Not sure I've ever heard Bickslow described that way."

"Anyway, it's still none of your business," she pressed. "Let's get back to you. If you've been around, why didn't you tell anyone? I mean, people at the guild have been missing you a lot."

"Somehow I doubt that's true," he snorted. "Aside from the Thunder Legion, who else would give a shit that I've been gone?"

"Mirajane has been asking about you," she pointed out, watching him closely for a reaction. For a second he did seem surprised, his eyes widening a moment before he laughed.

"Probably only so she could get a chance to whack me one herself. She's been pretty sour on me ever since you went and died, you know? Lot of things changed after you left."

"I didn't die," she argued before blowing her bangs out of her eyes in irritation. Part of her thought he was trying to tick her off on purpose. "Besides, you're wrong. It seems like she really misses you. She was asking Bickslow if he'd seen you just recently."

"Nice sentiment, but that doesn't really prove anything," he said before patting her head. "Besides, the fact of the matter is I was banished by my old man. Even if I did want to, I can't come back. There's nothing to be done about it."

"Do you want to come back though?" she asked him.

He paused at that before sighing a bit. It was strange to her to see him acting so calm. Even with a couple years missing, she was still used to him being so violent and cocky all the time when she'd been younger. The events of the festival must have really done something to him to see things differently.

"It'd be nice to be back but I don't see that happening any time soon," he replied. "It's not like the old man to change his mind anyway. He's way too stubborn to ever let me back, even if I got on my knees and begged him too."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," she agreed. "Not that I see you going down to your knees either."

"Mmmm, you're probably right."

"Looks like we know where you got your stubbornness from," she giggled.

"Suppose you're right," he admitted. "Which means we're at an impasse. Nothing else to do about it. It's better if everyone else just moved on from it and forget the idea of me coming back."

"Laxus..." she said softly. "You shouldn't talk like that. I'm sure your grandfather will let you back in eventually. Besides, it doesn't mean you have to live out in the woods away from everyone else."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I'm just more comfortable out here for the moment," he informed her. Letting the water in the kettle get hot enough that it started to whistle, he grabbed it and poured her a cup, setting a tea bag in it for her ad pressing it into her hands. "Here."

"I guess I can't force you to come back or anything," she admitted. "Still, it would be really nice if you were to swing by anyway."

His answer was cut off by the sudden crashing of a tree, causing her to jump up and shriek when it nearly crashed down on top of her.

"The hell?" Laxus asked as he stood up to see the cut up and angry Gorian snarling at them. "Oh, it's just you again. Didn't little Lisanna take care of you already?"

"Hey, don't call me little!" she objected loudly.

"Woman scratched me up," the creature snarled, "but I'll pay her back just after I thrash you!"

Lisanna didn't even see Laxus move, and the lightning was almost too fast to catch, but it a mere second electricity was striking out against the monster, frying him instantly. She could only watch him twitch on the ground, his fur singed as he moaned in pain.

"Think you might have overdone it," she noted, but he only shrugged.

"He was lucky I held back," Laxus said.

"Heh heh. Your lightning reached all the way to the sky. That's holding back for you?" she asked with a chuckle.

"You really think that was even a fraction of my power?" he asked, actually looking cocky for a second. "Come on, I was the strongest member in Fairy Tail after all."

"Yeah, I guess that's true," she admitted. "You didn't even break a sweat."

"To be fair, neither did you. You kicked it's butt pretty hard."

"Yeah, but it seemed to recover pretty fast so I don't know if it was all that impressive in the long run. Still, if you want me to tell Mira you saved me from the big, scary monster, I don't mind."

"Alright, kid. Knock it off. Don't go telling you sister crap like that. She'd know it was bullshit anyway."

"You sure?" she asked teasingly.

"Incredibly sure," he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest and looking away from her. Once again, she didn't quite believe him.

"Laaaaaxus!"

"Oh come on. What now?" he asked just as someone else approached the clearing, Gajeel and Natsu bursting through the foliage with Happy trailing behind them.

"Natsu? Happy? What are you doing here?" Lisanna asked.

"We saw that lightning in the sky and came to check it out!" Happy explained. "Natsu was right, it was Laxus after all."

"See, I told you. Who else could it have been?" Natsu exclaimed happily.

"Shouldn't you have been helping Lucy with the work on translating the words on that memento her father left her though?" Lisanna asked.

"What? Why'd we want to do something boring like that?" he asked.

"Well, it would have given you two a chance to be close," she explained.

"Close? What are you talking about?"

"Forget all that nonsense," Gajeel cut in. "I don't know about this pipsqueak, but I only came here for one reason."

"Laxus! Is that you?!"

It seemed another interruption was heading in, as Lisanna saw Freed, Evergreen and Bickslow come into the clearing as well.

"Seems like a lot of people saw your lightning after all," she pointed out.

"Ugh. You're turning out to be bad luck, Lisanna. You do realize I was hiding out here, right?" he asked her.

"Maybe you should have tried to hold back a little bit more than," she replied.

"Laxus… Laxus, I can't believe you've returned to us," Freed said, tears springing in his eyes.

"We thought you were gone forever," Ever whispered happily.

"Laxus, boss, you gotta stop running off without us, man," Bickslow cried out happily.

"Laxus! Laxus!" his babied cheered.

"Ah, enough of all that!" Natsu cried out. "Laxus, you got some nerve, hiding out here! If you were around then you should have let me know!"

"And why's that?" Laxus asked with an arched eyebrow.

"So I could mop the floor with you, of course! Oh man! I've been waiting for this!"

"Right, like I'd waste my time with you," Laxus said. "Come on, don't be ridiculous. Like you could compete with me."

"Heh. Sounds to me like you're just scared to face a real challenge. After all, I did kick you butt last time."

"Oh yeah right," Gajeel said. "It's only because of me that he lost that time."

"Natsu, don't even joke about such things!" Freed answered angrily. "You neither, Gajeel! If you plan to fight Laxus, you have to go through us first!"

"That's right!" Bickslow agreed.

"Oh man, this is gonna turn into a brawl real fast. Maybe I ought to take a step back," Lisanna mused.

"Nah, guys. Don't even worry about it," Laxus said. "I can take you on. I'll even give you the advantage of one right after the other. Maybe one of you losers will get lucky and wear me down enough for the second one to step in and get a lucky shot. How about it?"

"Sounds fine to me," Gajeel agreed.

"Yeah, me too," Natsu said.

"Wait! Don't!"

The entire group turned to see Wendy and Carla at the edge of the clearing, the young girl looking worried. Lisanna was honestly shocked. Just how many people had Laxus attracted with his light show anyway?

"What's the big deal, Wendy? There's no way we can't fight now. He's totally agreed to it," Natsu pointed out.

"Yeah… I know, but… This is a special occasion! So you've got to make sure you make it special!" she said suddenly as she pointed at them. "You'll fight at this time tomorrow! Deal?"

"Hmmm, a bit of a time to rev up for the fight?" Gajeel asked. "Sounds like a good idea to me."

"Oh yeah! Great idea, Wendy! I'll be all fired up for it now!" Natsu agreed enthusiastically.

"Well, I guess that settles it for now," Lisanna said, the two Dragon Slayers running off, no doubt to get ready for the fight and Wendy hurriedly rushing off after them. "You're just as popular as ever, aren't you, Laxus?"

"I'm not entirely sure I'd use the word popular," he stated.

"No, I think the word popular works just fine," she replied.

He didn't have much more of a chance to say anything else, because suddenly Freed and Evergreen were jumping on him, shouting encouragement for their leader. Lisanna couldn't help but notice that Bickslow held back though, looking over at her.

"What's the matter?" she asked him. "Don't you want to say hello too?"

"Were you the one who found Laxus?" he asked her instead.

"More like he found me," she admitted. "We were chatting and-"

Her words were suddenly cut off when he grabbed her and yanked her forward in a hug.

"B-Bickslow..." she whispered softly.

"You really are something special. Hope you know that," he said.

"I… I really didn't do anything," she objected softly. "Bickslow, they're right over there. They're going to notice."

"Meh. Let them see. I'm just hugging a fellow member of the guild for finding Laxus. So what?" he asked.

She could only chuckle and laid her head on his chest. Oh, who were they fooling? Like they could keep a secret to save their lives. Besides, Evergreen and Laxus already knew, and holding Bickslow sure felt good. Even his babies were crowding around them, and she was just as happy to have them pressing against her as the Seith wizard.

At this rate their secret wouldn't last, and everyone would find out before too much longer. Still, as she hugged him back just as tightly in the broad daylight were the most important people to him could see the two of them right out, she'd never felt so special to anyone in her entire life. Maybe it would spell the end for them eventually and things would change again, separating them when the guild realized what they'd been doing. After all, nothing in this world remained the same for long.

In this one moment though, somehow she just didn't want to let him go for anything.

End of Chapter 12

Aww, you got to love the mushy emotional stuff, and I've been wanting to bring Laxus back in for a while. Still, don't expect too much from the Key of the Starry Sky arc. I'll be mostly skimming over it. In fact, the story will be going all the way into the Grand Magic Game arc where it will reach it's conclusion. Don't worry though, there will still be plenty of chapters to get through.


	13. Chapter 13

I really need to stop making promises about update schedules. I clearly can not keep them. I'm sorry. You guys have been so great with the reviews and support, and here I am barely getting anything written for you. I really should try harder to be better about this.

Anyway, I don't want to say anything about this chapter beforehand because I don't want to spoil anything. Just please keep in mind this is rated Mature for more than just the sex. This is going to get a bit dark. Forewarning for you. In any case, Fairy Tail is not mine. Please support the official release of the show and manga.

Chapter 13: In Which He Just Couldn't Let Go

"You know, I've been thinking. Maybe you should tell Freed about us. After all, Evergreen and Laxus know about us now."

Bickslow looked up from the cotton candy he'd been eating, looking over at Lisanna. The moon seemed to frame her as she hugged her knees to her chest, sitting on the tiles of the roof they were currently hanging out on. Word had spread quickly about Laxus' fight with both Natsu and Gajeel, somehow becoming a festival in a matter of hours. It seemed the entire town was celebrating, and the two of them had decided there was no reason not to enjoy it themselves. He'd loaded down on snacks and they'd set themselves up on the highest building they could find to watch the festivities below while still having some privacy for them to just enjoy.

"You really think we should?" he asked. "I don't know. I don't think he'd even be interested. He's not much one for gossip."

"We're gossip now?" she asked with a giggle.

"No doubt we would be," he replied with a smirk.

"No doubt! No doubt!" his babies agreed happily.

"Well, I just thought he was your teammate so he might feel left out if he finds out later and that Evergreen and Laxus already knew," she explained.

"Ah, he'd probably be more wrapped up in the fact it wasn't Laxus who told him," he chuckled. "I can see your point though. You're okay with us sharing that?"

"I don't see the issue. Freed won't pummel me into the ground if he knew we were sleeping together, would he?"

"Of course not. He might get on my case though for disrespecting you though," he answered honestly.

"You're not disrespecting me," she assured him.

"Oh, I know that, but he wouldn't. Freed is just that kind of guy. He believes in the whole true love thing. You know, candle lit dinners, romantic atmosphere, roses and planning what furniture to get when you get married and start living life in that romantic bliss of finding your soul mate. All that junk," he said. "We tell him, he'll want to start planning wedding dates. If I tell him it's casual, he'd at least lecture."

"Mmm, well I don't want you to get in trouble," Lisanna admitted. "Maybe you're right. I just don't want him to feel left out if he does become aware."

"What? You think we'll get caught again?"

"Well, our track record isn't great," she reminded him with a laugh.

"Heh. Very good point."

He sat there and thought about it for a few minutes. Freed and his opinion on things like love were as different as night and day. It wasn't really for him, not the way Freed thought about it. He couldn't really see himself with a ring on his finger, getting a joint bank account and a king size bed, knowing he'd be waking up to the same person everyday. It wasn't even that Bickslow disliked the thought, he just knew he was too impossible to live with. What person in their mind would want to be with him for the rest of their lives?

Aside of course for his babies.

"I'm sorry," she said when he slumped over a bit, glaring out over the town. "It was a bad idea. I shouldn't have mentioned it."

"It's not that," he sighed. "I just… Nah, forget it. Town looks nice all lit up, don't it?"

"Bickslow?"

He sighed and looked away, unable to handle the way she looked at him with such open curiosity and worry in her eyes. God, looks like that just made him want to grab her and never let her go. That king of thinking though, was exactly the problem.

He was such a selfish asshole, and she'd already seen through him. Just how shallow could he get?

"I don't think there's much point in saying anything to him," he admitted. "He'd think it was more than what it was, and I don't want to have to explain this to anyone else. It's not even that I'm afraid of his reaction, but I don't want to put up with it. Evergreen is smart enough to leave it alone, and I guess Laxus is cool with how it is, but I don't… see he would… Ah, fuck. Look, it's just a bad idea."

"Okay. Okay. I'm sorry," she said, though she didn't sound mad, still seeming worried. "Would he really get on you that badly?"

"Worse. He'd probably try to convince me to… well, make it more than what it is," he sighed. "Freed is a worrywart and he'd probably start saying shit about how I could be happy if I only gave myself a chance and dumb shit like that. He thinks the way I treat relationships are self-damaging because my lack of commitment and dumb shit like that."

"Oh, so he'd try to fix you and me," she realized. "Yeah, I can understand why you don't want to put up with that. Mira would probably do the same… after probably threatening to hurt you if you ever did anything to me."

Bickslow sighed, glad she didn't take offense to his refusal. After their argument he was trying to be a little more careful with how he treated her emotions. This was getting emotional for them after all, whether they liked it or not.

"He's known me since I was a teenager," he admitted. "It's only natural he worry."

"Oh yeah. He did join just about six months after you did," she said. "It was so long ago too. I almost didn't remember."

"Yeah, but we knew each other before the guild," Bickslow said. "He and Ever actually joined the circus I was in for a short while. Well, I said joined but really they just did odd jobs around the place in order to get free transportation. See, they were both runaways."

"Really? How'd they meet each other then?"

"Oh, the same reason they were running away from home. They were engaged," he explained causally.

"WHAT?!" she cried out. "Oh my god! I never knew that!"

He chuckled a bit and nodded.

"Yeah, well it's not like they talk much about it now," he stated. "They were both rich kids, raised with a silver spoon in their mouths and knowing everything about dignity and grace, yadda yadda. They actually grew up knowing each other and their parents wanted to make it a match. Of course, they hated the idea and their folks tried to force the issue. So they did what any teenagers would do when they don't agree with their parents. They ran away and joined the circus. Heh. Really, it was just to get away and not starve with lack of funds, so we were cool with it. Honestly, I didn't interact with them too much at first cause I thought they were kind of snooty, but we rubbed off on each other eventually. They ended up leaving and… well, when they found out I'd joined the guild, they came back to… support my choice."

"I'm surprised you left the circus at all. Sounds like it would be a fun way to grow up," she said before she glanced over at him and noticed his jaw was clenched. He wasn't really very good talking about this sort of stuff. It's why he so often changed the subject around her when it came to his past, yet here he was getting closer and closer to it.

He felt his babies press close to him, seeming to know instinctively what was wrong and trying to offer comfort. He sighed softly, trying to will himself to relax.

Sadly, it was easier said than done.

"We disbanded," he admitted. "I didn't have much of a choice. It was either join a guild or get locked up."

"What?" she asked, clearly confused.

"Jeez. Lisanna, I… I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm saying this. Just forget it," he said before he felt her hand on his cheek.

"Bickslow, if there's something you want to talk about, I'm willing to listen," she said softly.

"It's not a pretty subject," he admitted.

"Neither is my past," she reminded him. "Only if you want to though."

He took her hand in his own and cradled it in his palm, somehow able to calm down a little easier now. He really had been thinking about this a lot lately, more than what was really healthy. It would probably be for the best to tell her eventually, to explain it to her. Why he was so possessive, but still had pushed her away, why he wanted her with such fierce intensity and yet had told her she could share herself with whoever she wanted. He had his emotional baggage, but while he'd never intended to indulge in it to her, it was still clearly affecting things. He might as well be honest.

"Lisanna, Fairy Tail has a lot of damaged people in it. We hide our scars pretty well behind frivolity and shit, but you and I both know everyone here has some kind of story of something holding them back, even if it's just a little," he said to which she nodded. "Well, I'm certainly no exception."

She didn't say anything, but scooted a little closer until their shoulders were touching. He appreciated the silent offer of comfort without her pushing herself onto him, letting him take what he needed. Strange really that a while ago they'd barely known one another and now they could communicate even without words, know exactly what the other was doing with their actions.

"I suppose I could say my life was shit before I was even born," he stated. "Magic can be learned, but it's also something inherited at times. Certain magic just flows in bloodlines more powerfully than others, you know? Like you and your siblings are all so good at taking souls into your bodies. Our kind of magic is some of the oldest and most powerful, and most dangerous. Well… guess you already know all about that."

She just nodded, seeming to have endless patience while he built up to a point. He was kind of taking his time with this, not because she needed any kind of explanation about any of this stuff, but because he needed the extra time to sort of mentally prepare himself for it. It was a rare, rare occasion that he or anyone that knew about this spoke about it so openly. It almost felt wrong, like something slimy was crawling up his back.

"Seith magic is almost exclusive in the bloodline. I don't think I've ever met a person who can master it or even has it unless it was in their family already," he explained. "Still, even born with it you'd have to have training to use it properly. It really left me in a bad situation because my parents abandoned me when I was just a little kid. I don't even remember them, or when they left me behind."

"Abandoned?" she asked him softly. "I thought you said you mother raised you in the circus."

"She did. I said my parents abandoned me. Whatever woman out there gave birth to me wasn't my mother. The woman who took me is was," he replied. "She caught me one day trying to pick her pocket… heh, and drug me all the way back to the circus to feed and clothe me. For months I didn't even want to talk to her, but she was understanding and sweet. She knew I had Seith magic the second she saw me, even though it took a while to confide in her. I had a tendency to use my magic on accident a lot before I met her, sometimes on purpose even. It's surprisingly easy to make people do what you want, ripping their soul out of their body to get them to leave you alone or slip a piece of your own soul into them and make them do what you tell them to. I won't lie. It made me a little prick when I was younger and though she did her best to break me of the habit, it's a power that's hard to let go of. See, the thing is though, she was a Seith wizard too. She took me in, trained me, took me in as her son even though she was way too young to have worry about such a little piece of crap like me."

He sighed and pulled his mask off, lowering his hood and running a hand through his hair. He hadn't even gotten to the bad part and this was starting to take its toll on him. Both Lisanna and his babies were deathly quiet and he wasn't sure he wanted to keep going. The floor was all his but he didn't really want it. Would Lisanna let him stop talking if he asked?

Somehow the words kept coming though, even when he considered stopping. Somehow he just couldn't control it anymore. It's like he was on autopilot now.

"I was with her for everything. When she got a boyfriend, got married, had kids… and my adopted dad dying. It was an accident with the tightropes, and she was so sad for a long time, but we were all still happy together. Just me, her… and my five little brothers."

She suddenly stilled as she looked at him, her eyes wide as they slowly left his face and trailed over to look at the little wooden bodies floating silently around him.

"Oh… oh my god… Bickslow..." she breathed.

"Yeah," he said softly when she figured it out. "They are real kids… were real kids. We were traveling in a foreign country, ways away from here. There had been a sickness… and epidemic spreading. It was really bad, but when we arrived no one knew it was anything more than some kind of flu or something. Some people who caught it were okay, but the young and elderly… it was harder for them. We couldn't even be allowed to leave cause… you know… quarantine and all that. No one was allowed to leave the borders for a long time so it couldn't spread, tourists, citizens, no body. It was no wonder when my little brothers caught it. My mom had already lost her husband. She couldn't take it. She'd always told me that we never, ever took souls out of the bodies of the unwilling or dying. Doing that to someone dying… it keeps them stuck in the living world for as long as the person connected to them wants them to be in the living world as a soul, unable to move on. Centuries ago it was done as necromancy… to make slaves… It's probably one of the worst and most illegal things you can do. She said it so often I lost count… but… when her kids were sick… we had no way to save them..."

He took a deep breath, starting to shake a bit and she suddenly hugged him, pulling his head into her chest.

"Bickslow, you don't have to. You don't have to say anymore," she assured him. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

He felt himself break down, suddenly crying into her chest as he gripped her tightly. This is why he avoided this crap. Years had gone by and he still couldn't handle the memories.

It had been like a nightmare, walking into their boxcar to find his mom, ask her if she'd needed anything. He'd just been trying to help when he'd found her, her hands covered in chalk and everything thrown around to make room for the ritual, her eyes wide with fear and his brothers laying on the ground, already still and the wooden bodies starting to move.

"Transfering souls is not… i-it's not easy… and she was sick too," he whispered softly, tears still flowing down his eyes. "Oh god… I tried to hep… but she was already too weak. It takes too much power to permanently transfer a soul, to have done five at once and… they were so weak she had to put so much into it… I just held her and she begged me to take care of them, to be a good brother and make sure they were never taken away, that they wouldn't die."

It was no wonder when everyone had found out there had been a panic, even amongst people he'd considered part of his home. After all, that kind of magic was purely forbidden and illegal. Even with the epidemic it was no surprise the Rune Knights had shown up to investigate, how he'd tried to fight them and get away, anything to keep his siblings safe.

"Eventually… eventually the Master came. He'd known my mom. He'd brought over Laxus a lot when I'd been growing up and we were friends. They both arrived and I… I don't even remember half of what was said. They Rune Knights had been holding me so long, the epidemic had a cure, things were getting better for everyone but there I was, stuck in a holding cell with my brothers. I never let them take them away. He convinced the Council that I wasn't the one to transfer them, even if I was keeping them alive. I was just a scared teenager who didn't want to lose what was left of my family. I hadn't done anything wrong myself… and I was all they had. They were just kids. They didn't know what was going on. The Council wanted to make me let go of their souls but he convinced them… that… that they could still live a life with me like this, that it was all a bad circumstance. I was released… on the condition I be watched carefully, like I was some criminal. It was join Fairy Tail or… well, they didn't seem to have any problem with letting me rot down there. I didn't have a home to go back to anyway, so what else was there to do? I've been with Fairy Tail and with Laxus ever since. When Freed and Ever found out, they came to try and support me and… well..."

She just hushed him, holding him close. He really didn't have anything else to say anymore anyway, just holding her as tightly as she was being gentle.

"Bickslow," she whispered softly as she kissed the top of his head. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. No one, ever, should be put through that kind of pain."

"I didn't want to let go," he whispered. "Things… people that are precious to me, I never am willing to let them go. Yeah, my mom did it but I keep them here. I can't let go, even if they don't want to go either, I'm the one keeping them alive. I'm doing the same… the same to you."

"Bickslow, what are you talking about?" she asked him but he only squeezed her to him tighter. He'd never expected this to happen, to care so much about her. No, it wasn't on the same level. He wasn't holding her against her will or anything but… all this sneaking around to keep her secret, using her sexually and getting mad at the thought of being unable to keep her even when they both knew this couldn't and wouldn't last.

He'd have to be fucking stupid not to see this was going down a dangerous path, yet he couldn't possibly let her go now.

"I'm possessive and needy. I don't like to let go of people I care about," he whispered. "I was acting like a jealous jerk about you, told you to sleep with other people… and it wasn't for your sake. I didn't want to get attached. I knew what I'd get like if I started to want to keep you and I… I couldn't handle it. I can't handle it, not having you in my arms anymore. I just..."

"Bickslow..." she whispered softly, soothingly running her hand over her hair as she hugged him to her. "No one has to let go. Neither one of us will. I promise."

He just held her tightly. He couldn't form words anymore and he felt like an idiot for sharing this. Even with her accepting everything, it all felt so raw to bring it up again. Years had passed since then and he still felt… so lost.

Bickslow let her hold him though, even after he'd long since calmed down. He knew by morning he'd be alright again, like none of this had happened and she wasn't the kind of girl to dredge up old shit either. They could just continue on like this had never happened, but at least she'd know. At least she'd know why he needed this to stay as just sex between friends, why he couldn't let her tell people or start treating it like more than what it was, why he couldn't start to have people tell him maybe he should start to think about settling down because casual relationships only hurt in the long run and all that shit.

It was just like he knew her promise was bullshit. Who was she kidding? Of course one of them would let go eventually. Either he'd force himself to one day end it or she'd go traipsing after someone else, either Natsu or another guy. There's no way this would go on forever, and even if she did really want that the thought of it scared him way too much.

Like this he could let go. It would hurt. It would suck. He'd fucking hate it, but he could still do it. If he ever started to let himself think of more, of her as a girlfriend or a lover, or her in a white dress or with a ring on her finger… plump with his children and allowing him to make his family even bigger… God, he couldn't think like that.

Ever.

How would he let her go then?

It was okay though. He could hold her now, keep her with him. As long as he didn't cross those lines he'd be able to let her go someday. He'd just keep from getting too attached.

He could do it.

He had to be able to do it.

End of Chapter 13

Yeah, so there you go. Suppose this explains a lot. Don't worry. Things will cheer up a lot soon. As Bickslow said, this all happened years ago, but it clearly affects him and how he views things so there will always be niggling doubts inside of him. Just look at the way he acts during sex, how often he says he needs her. Trust me, even after the love word gets broached, he's gonna be a needy bastard, but at least now Lisanna knows why.

This is probably riddled with errors, even with me looking over it after I wrote it but I didn't have much time to dedicate to it. Again, I'm really sorry. I'll try to be better, but I didn't want you guys to have to wait any longer for me to get this out. I'll probably fix it up later if there's too many problems with it.


	14. Chapter 14

Hello everyone. Oh man, it has been way, way too long. To update everyone really quick I finally quit my second job. Finances were back on track and I just couldn't handle not having any free time at all. Sadly almost immediately afterward my apartment was nearly destroyed due to water damage because my landlord decided the month where it rains the most in the entire year was a good time to remove the roof for renovations. Suffice to say I had to move immediately.

Luckily though I'm in a nice new place now and settled in properly. I'm pretty happy about that to say the least. I'm hoping I can avoid more work for a while. I'm no good when my life gets so busy as you can see from the update schedule. It's been months since I've touched this and I'm super sad that I missed Bixanna week. At least I think there was one. It was set for around this time last year but I didn't see anything new so maybe it didn't happen this year. Oh well, such is life.

Anyway, the update schedule should be back on track. Not sure if you guys will be getting a chapter every single day like before but I will try my best to keep it frequent. I've been itching to get back to this for a while now and I'm so happy I finally can.

So, without further ado, on with the story.

Chapter 14: In Which How Far is too Far?

"Lisanna, we don't have to do this."

"Shh. Yes, we do."

"Are you sure?"

"Just come on."

Bickslow let himself be led along by Lisanna into the dark entrance of her home, holding onto her hand as she gently pulled him inside after her. They'd been cuddled up on the roof just a while ago, but he hadn't really been watching the festival anymore. He always got in a dark place when he thought about his past, and it had been easy to look out at the festivities and not really see it at all. She must have noticed because she'd decided to take him away despite his protests that they didn't need to go anywhere.

He wondered if she wanted to get physical with him but for once he wasn't sure he was in the mood. While he was up for it just about any time, especially with her, this wasn't the sort of thing that could really be wiped away with a blowjob.

He had to admit, part of her almost regretted telling her. It wasn't that he didn't trust her or anything, but so few people knew about his past, and he liked to keep it that way. His babies were his own business and very few people liked him well enough to want to get to know him on that kind of level. After all, he knew he gave plenty of people the creeps.

After flicking on the lights, she pulled him to the couch and sat down with him, his babies floating gently around him.

"Lisanna, as much as I'd hate to say it, I don't think-"

"I'm happy I'm with you," she interrupted. The white haired girl didn't do anything to try to initiate anything, just resting against him and hugging him close. He had to be honest, the words kind of surprised him. It wasn't really what he'd been expecting.

"What?" he asked her. "What are you talking about?"

"I just felt like I should say it," she explained to him, resting her head onto his shoulder. "What you told me, it couldn't have been easy. A lot of people are really closed up about that sort of thing in their past. There are enough people here in Fairy Tail with tough lives for me to know that. Heck, I know there were plenty of times I cried myself to sleep in Edolas when I thought I'd never seen my brother or sister again. It was so hard, and I do my best to smile and be grateful for what I do have, but it isn't always easy. So I know just how hard such a thing would have had to be on you. I know it might not be the same thing as having your family or anything like that, and I wouldn't want to ever imply that it is, but I'm happy I'm with you. I hope that us being a bit of an item, that it helps in times like these."

Her cheeks went a little pink as she looked down at her lap. It was actually touching to him that she was trying to offer comfort to him but at the same time trying her best not to be presumptuous about her place in his life. They were obviously figuring one another out as they were going along, and they'd already stumbled a time or two, but she clearly wanted to offer him comfort.

It made him smile and he wrapped an arm around her in a loose embrace, resting his chin on the top of her head.

"It does help, Lisanna. Don't worry about me," he assured her before he kissed the top of her head. It felt nice to have this sweet moment in a place of privacy. He knew he'd be able to hold her like this for a while now. No doubt both of her siblings would to be too busy at the festival to head back any time soon. Even if he did get caught over here, they weren't doing anything that would rouse any suspicions.

Well, he was sure there would be questions about what he was doing in the Strauss household in the first place but he had a feeling Lisanna would already have an excuse prepared and thought up just in case anyone did come home early. No, as it was, he just felt comfortable and relaxed in her arms.

"I have been thinking about it a lot," he admitted. "I think because of you."

"Me? Why's that?" she asked him.

He paused as he wondered how to word it. He didn't want to come across overly mushy or make her think he was giving her some line of poetic or false romantic bullshit, but on the other hand he did want her to know the truth. For whatever reason, they were definitely getting closer. It was past the point of denying that he cherished her and wanted to be around her as much as he could get away with. He was sure too that the feelings were the same way the other way around. Lisanna could have made it clear that this was only sex to her and nothing else, in fact she had said that a couple times at the beginning, but that was quickly changing. Casual as their relationship was, there was still something emotional to it, a bond he was getting very used to and didn't want to give up.

"I guess I'm just not good at letting good things go," he eventually settled on saying. He wasn't sure exactly what his feelings were and he didn't want to start sounding weird. At the end of the day, it was just sex. Deep, sweet, comforting, intense sex that blew his socks off every time and made him crave her more and more with each time they did it, but it was best not to get things all weird by bringing up emotional crap. Besides, he was kind of raw right now. He didn't want to say something he didn't really mean.

Not to mention he didn't want to say something he really did mean and have her attribute it to him just being oversensitive or whatever at the moment.

Yeah, it was best to keep his mouth shut for now. They could always talk about such things later.

Maybe.

"Bickslow?" she asked him curiously but he just shook his head.

"It's nothing, really," he assured her. "I just like having you around, that's all."

"But you said letting go," she pushed, though her tone was gentle. She was looking at him, curiosity in her eyes. It was clear she wasn't as eager to forget about it as he was. This just didn't feel like a good time, but how to say that without running the risk of offending her over it? It's not like he wanted to shut her out after all.

She just wouldn't believe him if he said it now. He was sure of it.

"Are you afraid of losing me?" she asked him.

"Mmm."

"Bickslow?"

He didn't really want to comment on it, and just shook his head before pulling her closer into the hug. His babies settled down around her shoulder and on her head at his silent command, trying to distract her by cuddling.

What could he say to her after all? Yes, he was afraid of losing her. Casual sex didn't last, no matter how good it was. She loved Natsu, had since she was a kid. How could he ever compete with that? His friends would blurt something out sometime, or her siblings would find out, or any number of things would happen. Eventually she'd come to him and tell him it was over, and he would have to accept it no matter how much he knew he wouldn't want to.

He'd have to though. He couldn't be selfish, not when she was so great to him. Even their fight had brought them closer together, but there was still a barrier. It would never go away. They were fuck buddies, close yes, but nothing more than that.

"I'm just a selfish asshole, Lisanna," he said finally. "It's just something I got to deal with. Don't worry about it."

She looked up at him before smiling softly and kissing his cheek.

"Maybe I want to worry about it," she informed him. "Why do you think I don't?"

"No one would. I'm not exactly easy maintenance," he chuckled, though the sound was a weak and hollow one. "It really doesn't matter, okay? I promise you, it ain't a big deal. Just too much on my mind. Don't worry your pretty little head over it."

"Well… alright. If you insist," she answered and thankfully let it drop. Instead she just continued to hold him, pressing close and sharing body heat with him. It started to get late, but the faint sounds of partying could still be heard off in the distance, even if just barely. That was one thing that could be said for Fairy Tail. Their place might be a wreck, they might be in debt, and their member list was short and puny but they never let anything get them down, especially when it came time to have a celebration or party. Bickslow was sure that little impromptu festival would be going on for hours, if not well into the morning. Getting loud and boisterous was just in the nature of the guild after all.

"It's been a pretty nice couple of days, you know," he mentioned. Best to change the subject before Lisanna started to worry about him any more. He was the older one after all. She shouldn't have to feel the need to baby him or anything. It actually made him feel a bit low actually, breaking down like that on her. He was willing to bet money he'd scared her a bit. "Finding Laxus has just been the icing on the cake. You think he'll be joining back up with the guild again soon?"

"I hope so. It doesn't seem fair that he hasn't come back yet. Maybe he's waiting to be invited back by his grandfather, to be forgiven," she mused.

"Wish it would happen. It's not the same without him around. Feels wrong. Like, I'm a bodyguard with no one to look after," he grumbled, to which she started to giggle. "What? What is it?"

"I don't think Laxus is the type to even need a bodyguard," she pointed out. "He's the strongest person in Fairy Tail, after all. I think you're more fan boy than anything."

"Hey," he said warningly, but there was no real venom in his voice. "Yeah, I guess you're right. He is pretty awesome. Still though, he needs us. I still don't understand why he told us to stay in the guild when he got banished. It would have been a lot better if the Thunder Legion had gone with him."

"Well, maybe he was worried about you," she supplied. "After all, he was being punished. He probably didn't want the same thing to happen to his friends. He cares about you three."

He beamed a little at her words. She was right. Laxus was a bit tough at times, but there was no doubt in his mind that the four of them were close. He certainly knew that if he'd been the one kicked out, he would have demanded Laxus stay with Fairy Tail instead of coming with him.

Well, not demanded so much. No one demanded anything of Laxus. He probably would have begged him more like it. Still, the loyalty was there all the same. It felt good to know that his boss cared about him just as much as he cared about the blond. It felt downright amazing though that someone else besides him saw it. He knew most of the guild thought the Legion was idiots for following around someone so gruff, but it just wasn't like that. Laxus just needed a good support structure, and he was happy the youngest Strauss sibling saw that at least.

She was a lot more understanding of him than he ever would have thought before.

"Are you hungry?" she asked him, breaking him out of his train of thought. "You haven't had a proper meal tonight, have you?"

The snacks they'd had before on the roof had hardly counted. Besides, most of them had been left aside when she'd taken him to her home.

"I could go for something to eat," he admitted. "Why? What did you have in mind? Want to go back out and find something?"

"No, I think this is nicer," she said with a shake of her head. "More privacy, just the two of us and all, not to mention it's much quieter."

Well, he had to admit that she had a point there. Going back out into the party seemed more trouble than what it would be worth right now.

"What would you suggest then?" Bickslow asked before she climbed off of the couch and stretched out.

"Wait right here. I'll be right back," she said to him before she left to go to the kitchen. He waited around for a while like she'd asked him to and after about twenty minutes, time which he killed by juggling the babies while they giggled and cried out for more, she came back with a couple of platters, one balanced on each hand. One was laden down with veggies and a large cup of ranch dressing for dipping, and the other had small cut finger sandwiches. Smelled like egg salad to him, and his stomach rumbled a bit in hunger.

"Not exactly my sister's cooking," she admitted, her face a little sheepish. Bickslow couldn't help but notice just how cute she looked, as if almost embarrassed as she put the trays down on the coffee table in front of them. "Hope you don't mind. I'm not exactly great when it comes to things like that, mostly snacks or heating up left overs are what I can handle."

"Nah, this is great," he informed her.

"Great! Great!" his babies cried out. "Lisanna is great!"

She giggled a bit as her cheeks went red. Embarrassment or not, she clearly liked the praise.

"Want to watch a movie or something?" she asked him, but he just shook his head and patted the seat next to him.

"Cuddling is just fine," he answered. "Better actually. Come on and sit down. We can eat together."

She didn't seem to mind the idea and got back onto the couch with him, resting against his body as they ate. Most of the time it seemed when she tried to grab something, he would take a big bite out of it before she could. It had been intended to tease her, but before long he found her feeding him with a smile on her lips, and before long he was holding food up for her to nibble on as well.

It seemed like the shadows of their previous conversation had been chased away. Part of him, a big part, still wondered if he should have really told her about his past. It seemed like it had been a bad idea, but he couldn't really figure out why. He was private about it of course, and didn't share easily, but he trusted her. He knew she wouldn't spread it around or use it against him. Still, he'd given her something, something he knew she could use to hold over him and hurt him, but he knew she wouldn't. She would never, ever do anything to hurt him on purpose, that he could be sure of.

Maybe that was the problem though. He'd never trusted someone with something like this before, besides for his friends. His family and the Thunder Legion had been everything to him for so long. Yet somehow she'd gotten past his walls without even trying, slipped into his life so comfortably it was almost like she'd always been there. As good as it felt, as right as it seemed, there was just a sense of foreboding he couldn't quite chase away. Whatever it was though, it wasn't bothering him too much right now.

At this moment, it was just them on a couch together eating a meal and being comfortable with one another. She was happy, and he was getting over what he'd told her before. It was hard to dwell on it in the bright and warm room with her so close, happy and giggling every time he would hold up a carrot for her to munch on or he'd nibble on a sandwich.

It was simple contentment, nothing more, nothing less. He was just happy with her.

Perhaps that's why he was scared though, because it wouldn't last. Once they moved on, it wouldn't just stop the sex, it would stop all of it. The hanging out, the friendly moments, maybe even the trust? He didn't know, but it didn't seem likely to him that it would continue.

"Hey, Lisanna," he said to her suddenly, catching her attention.

"Yes?" she asked. "What is it?"

"It's just… I'm glad I'm with you too," he admitted. "It's good to have you as a friend."

Her eyes went a little wide at that, seeming surprised. He wanted to say it though. It just felt important to get it out there. No, he just couldn't let it end. Even when they no longer shared a bed together, he wanted this to last. He couldn't bare it if it didn't. It would be just like Laxus when he walked away from them, banned from the guild. He didn't want to ever experience that feeling again, especially with her.

"Friends?" she asked him. "That's what we are?"

"Well, yeah. If that's okay with you?" he asked, worried for a second he had stepped over some sort of line that she hadn't wanted him to cross. She almost looked upset for a second before she blew out a soft breath, her bangs fluttering a little under it, before she shook her head and smiled.

"Friends sound good," she reassured him with a nod. "Being friends sounds great in fact."

He smiled a bit and let out a sigh of relief. He'd been really worried there for a second.

"You know, for a moment there I thought I'd said the wrong thing," he admitted to her. "Like I'd gone too far or something."

"Oh no," she said with a shake of her head. "Sorry if I scared you there. It's just..."

"Hm?" he asked her.

"Nothing," she assured him. "It doesn't matter. It's just been a weird night is all. I'm glad you shared with me, Bickslow, and I'm glad we're friends too."

Her smile seemed genuine, but suddenly he couldn't shake off the feeling he really had said something wrong. However, she hugged him quickly and rested her head on his chest. It was comforting, but also a clear sign she was no longer up for talking. Something about the mood seemed different, still relaxed but… changed. He wish he could say it was a good one but he wasn't sure.

'I'm worrying too much,' he thought to himself firmly as he hugged her back and just let her lay still against his body. 'She's right, it has been a weird night, and I'm a bit high strung right now. Just let it be before you go and say something stupid.'

He didn't see her clench her eyes shut as she buried her face into his chest, or the tiny prickle of tears creeping up into the corner of her eyes. Bickslow had no idea why she hugged him so tightly, or that she opened her mouth a couple times to say something before shutting it quickly and firmly. Even as he tried to relax, there was no indication that she allowed him to see that there was a sudden storm ragging inside of her heart and mind right now.

Because to Lisanna, he really hadn't gone to far. In fact, to her, he hadn't gone far enough.

End of Chapter 14

Sort of a slow chapter, and I wish I had come back with something more of a bang to it, but it's what I had planned next. I didn't want to have such an emotional chapter last time and then basically go back to the plot as if it had never happened. I've always found after such emotional moments you have to have the cool down period or it just ruins the pacing completely and totally.

Of course, in retrospect there is absolutely no reason this should have taken so long. I appreciate everyone telling me it was okay to take care of my own life first, but there's no reason I couldn't have sat down once in a while every few days and gotten a few paragraphs written down until it was good to go. Well, I'll try to be better. No way will I leave this for months at a time again.

I have an ending in mind on how this will stop, but don't worry. There's still a ways to go before we get to that point. Still, I think I'm making good progress on the narrative, especially concerning their feelings. Damn it, Bickslow. Just say what's on your mind. You both clearly want more.

Well, just goes to show sometimes just "getting a room" still doesn't make it clear what the other person wants. Such is the way of the heart. Don't worry though, readers. They'll get their eventually.


End file.
